Wading in the Waters at Senna Rock
by Nickeltaffy
Summary: Old title: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.
1. Chapter 1

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

…

Chapter 1

Xander angrily slammed the door shut on his rented midsize sedan, the varying and constant wind kicking up the dust around them. He had pulled off the bumpy two lane state highway and pulled just inside the parking lot of what looked to be an abandoned truck stop. He wrestled the crumpled map out flat on the hood of his car, trying to discover his location and the best way to get back to the correct route. He could have sworn he did not miss the sign that would have redirected him back to the interstate. Now, he was stuck in the middle of nowhere, at an aging little used truck stop on the edge of a town that consisted of a lonely country church and a feed store. This job is going to kill me he thought. When he had joined the oil surveying company, he was intrigued at the thought of travel. He thought of the exciting sights and people he would meet. Surely, that would take his mind off the loss of Anya.

It had been over eight years ago, when the Scoobies had defeated the first and closed the Hell mouth. Anya, Spike and a number of potentials had been lost in the fight, but they had been considered acceptable losses. The loss of Anya had never been acceptable to him, neither had Spike's loss to Buffy. In the years after the Sunnydale, the Scoobies had drifted apart, each going on with their own lives. Buffy and Xander had never lost touch, perhaps because they could recognize the loss the other was bearing. The people they had lost always hovered around the edges of their minds, Buffy and he were never able to let go of them. Even after several failed attempts to move on with different relationships, each night after they turned off the light, their thoughts would always drift to the special people not in their lives anymore

Xander was fighting a losing battle with keeping the map flat in the oncoming wind. He had no idea where he was and the map was not helping. He looked up at the name truck stop sign that said: Git Gas and Go. Hmm, that didn't help. He looked toward the dilapidated building with the rusty gas pumps standing in front. Xander thought I haven't seen pumps like that since the last time he a saw a movie made in the fifties. There was an old beat up 1968 Mercury Comet sitting to the side of the building with patches of paint missing. Xander was surprised if it was still running, but it wasn't up on blocks, so it must be. There was a well used 1970 Chevy short bed truck parked in front of the building which looked like there were some bales of hay and wire in the back with a large burlap bag of some type of animal feed.

"Didn't anyone buy a new car in the last few decades around here?" Xander mused.

Xander screwed up his courage and did the one thing that men try to avoid at all costs. He was going to have to ask for directions. He crumpled up the map between his two hands and stuck it under his arm as he made his way to the gas station building. He could smell smoke and barbeque as he came closer to the building. He could see there were a couple of large industrial size barrel smokers sitting off to the side near the brown scrub brush that were steadily outputting that delicious smell. Texans took their barbeque very seriously. There was not going to be any plastic packages of meat with cheap barbeque sauce reheated by microwave being called barbeque in Texas. It had to come right off the cedar and hardwood smoker to be considered true barbeque. Xander was persuaded by the delicious smell, that as long as he was there he might as well have lunch.

Xander approached the aging building with windows that sported several layers of dust. He imagined that in its' heyday, this place must have been quite the showpiece for this area. Now over fifty years later, the constant wind and dust along with age had taken its toll on the building. Xander pulled open the warped screen door and stepped cracked once shiny tile inside. He first noticed the country music was playing from a little radio which had a particular tinny air to it, since the speakers had seen better days. He was surprised to see a small market with a butcher's counter at the other end of the building. There were four short aisles filled with limited variety of standard grocery stock. There were two small tables with peeling edges sitting along the front window, each sporting a pair of mismatched dubiously supportive looking chairs. Each table sported a roll of paper towels to serve as napkins and a salt and pepper set in cardboard tubes. Back on the back wall, there was an obviously hand painted sign with the words "Bathrooms along the side" with an arrow under it.

"So, this must be what is considered fine dining in these parts. I hope I don't need a reservation" he snickered to himself.

Xander looked over the cash register counter. No one was behind the counter, so Xander walked along the windows. His eye caught a poster advertising the rodeo in the county seat from two years ago. He rolled his eyes. Why did he have to get caught in the town that time forgot he asked himself .

Suddenly there was a banging at the back of the building. A big man came in carrying a large tray of barbeque in front of him. He had obviously just come back from the smokers. He called back to someone who was following him.

"..don' care what you tell him."

He noticed Xander. The man straightened himself and smiled at Xander as he put the tray down behind the butcher's counter.

"Sorry, I'm just setting up for lunch. How yall doin today? What can I help ya with?"

"Uh, Yeah. I was just going to ask for directions. But now that I can smell that barbeque, I think I will stay for lunch." Xander slowly approached the butcher's counter.

"Sure, just give me a few more minutes to set up and I'll be right with ya." the big man replied.

Xander turned around and sat down at the nearest table. A soft female voice abruptly spoke up at the other end of the counter. Xander could not see the owner of the voice, since the butcher counter blocked his view.

"RJ, I gotta get goin. I am going to get two loaves of bread and a jug of milk. I'll leave you the money by the register." she said with a soft Texas twang.

"You got it, Annalee. See ya later. Have a good day, now."

Xander heard the sound of two loaves been pulled from the grocery shelves and the sound of the refrigerator door open. He looked over to see a rack with multiple issues of car magazines along with the Farmer's Almanac facing him. He picked up a magazine about classic cars and opened it as he waited for his lunch. He looked up to see a small woman with medium length brown softly curling hair pulled to the back of her head with barrettes. She was dressed in a weathered flowered blouse and overly faded blue jeans stop by the cash register. She kept her back to him as she pulled out a couple of dollars out of her jeans and placed by the register. Xander's eyes went back to his magazine.

"See ya later, RJ." the woman called out as she went out the door which slammed behind her with a bang.

Xander had only caught sight of her through his peripheral vision. He went back to reading about the Dodge Charger. Then for a moment, he caught his breath. There was something eerie familiar about the woman that just left. He told himself that he was just being silly and went back to his magazine.

The woman walked to the far side of the pickup. She placed her groceries on the passenger side and then walked around to get in on the drivers' side. She began to fasten her seat belt and start the engine of the truck.

With a sudden sound, RJ raced around the counter. He got to the front door and yelled out to the truck. Xander looked up and watched with amusement, to see a big man move that fast.

"You tell Clay when you see him that he needs to come see me!" RJ called out to the truck that had pulled back and was just beginning to move forward.

"You got it!" she laughed and called back leaning out of the truck's driver side window.

Xander looked out the dusty window at the woman at the smiling from the truck. His heart stopped when he saw her face.

It was Anya!


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

…

Chapter 2

Xander stood up and went toward the door just in time to see the back end of the truck pull away in a cloud of dust. His mind was racing. He didn't know what to do. Had he really seen Anya? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was he going to start seeing her everywhere? Had he finally gone over the edge? No. No, Anya was gone. There was probably a chance resemblance between that woman and Anya. He whipped his eyes back to the parking lot. Damn it! He didn't get the license plate number. How could he, if….Hey wait! That big guy…he was talking to her. He knew her. What did he call her?. It was something like Anya…But what was it?

"_Okay, okay, calm down."_ He told himself. _"No one is going to talk to the crazy guy at the truck stop obsessing about a woman traveling alone."_

The big man turned back from the door and gave Xander a quick grin as he started back to the butcher counter. Quick Xander thought think of something to say to get more information about Anya. He remembered the rack of magazines. _"CARS! That's what they like around here! Say something about cars, idiot!"_ he yelled at himself.

"Wow, I haven't seen one of those trucks in a long time. " he said matter of factly to the large man. "You got a lot of em around here?"

"That? Heck no." RJ answered as he turned down the aisle back to the butcher counter. "That was an old Chevy short bed pickup. Did you hear it roar as it started up? It still has the original V8 engine."

"Man, they don't make em like that anymore! It's still running, that's a beautiful thing." Xander said as he shook his head as if impressed. "I saw a Comet parked over to the side. Is that yours?"

"Yep, I inherited that from my Daddy. It was his pride in joy when he was in high school. He said that it turned all the girls heads back then." RJ said as he began to cut the barbeque ribs behind the counter.

Xander wandered over to the butcher counter, where he could watch RJ prepare the barbeque. Xander wanted to watch the man's reactions in case he became suspicious of Xander's interest in the truck. He crossed his arms and leaned on one side of the counter.

Looking away, he said with a sigh, "Yeah, my Dad felt the same way about his Chevy truck. I think it was the same as the one that just drove away. He drove it until it fell apart. It tore him up when he had to replace it with a van to fit all the kids." Xander looked up to see if the sad story affected the man on the other side of the counter. He decided to go ahead and pursue the matter. "Just seeing that one drive off brought back a lot of good memories. Hey, do you know if the young woman might be interested in selling it?"

"I don't know…" RJ responded. He looked over at Xander who was trying to present the most non-threatening appearance he could.

"Hey, Do me a favor. My name is Xander Harris. I am thinking of starting to restore cars as a hobby." It was with the next line that he decided to pull out sympathy card. " I would love to start with that truck and give it to my Dad. It would make him so happy, now that he is not doing so well. Give her my card. She can call me if she's interested." He placed the card on the counter and slid it over to RJ.

"Tell her I would like to make a very generous offer on the truck."

"Okay, I'll give her your card. My name is RJ by the way." The large man said picking up the card. "I won't make any guarantees that you'll hear from her."

"All I can do is hope. The ball's in her court now." Xander shrugged.

It seemed to Xander that he had played that pretty coolly. Hopefully, he had not raised any red flags with RJ and he would give the card to Anya. Xander thought if there was anything that Anya carried over from her past life, it would be her love of money.

"_Oh I'll hear from her alright."_, he thought.

…

A few days later, Xander's cellphone rang. He looked at the screen, he didn't recognize the number but it came up with a Texas area code. Hopefully, it was her! He took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Hello, Xander Harris here." He said with a forcefully male voice.

"Hello. Is this Alexander Harris?" a soft feminine voice answered back.

"Yes it is."

Hi, you don't know me; but my name is Annalee Sorrensen. You saw my truck at the Git Gas. RJ gave me your card. He said you were interested in buying it."

He knew that voice.

"Could please you hold on for a second?" he asked

"Sure."

"_It was her! It had to be her! God, please let it be her! The fates couldn't be so mean, not after all this…He was going to be positive. IT WAS HER!" _as the inner diaglogue rang in his head, Xander held the phone against his chest. He had to restrain his joy. He was talking to her and she was talking to him. They were talking! He want to leap up and dance around his office. Unfortunately, that wouldn't impress staff at the offices in San Angelo. He started to beat his hand on the desk in a rapid rhythm. After a couple of seconds, he was able to regain control of himself.

"Sorry about that. I had someone in my office." He came back confidently to the phone.

"Oh, Is this a bad time? I could call back?" She responded.

"No, no. Totally taken care of. I'm all yours." he said with a smile in his voice.

"Okaay..I was hoping that we could discuss your offer on the car." She began hesitantly.

He didn't just want to have a short discussion on the phone with her on this. He had to figure out some way to see her. Then, he thought of it.

"Yeah, I really liked that truck of yours. Of course, I would like to inspect it before I make an offer, if you don't mind?"

"Sure. It's only normal." She agreed.

"Well, just so you know that I am not a freak, why don't we pick a public place where we can meet and I can check out the truck?" he offered as a friendly suggestion.

"_Good Xander, reinforce the good guy image. Don't frighten her off."_

"Hmm.. Where are you now? she asked.

"I am in my company's offices in San Angelo." he responded, making sure he sounded trustworthy.

"That's less than an hour and half away. Would you mind driving down?" She asked. "You've already been to the Git Gas, so you know our restaurant choices are limited here in town; but we're having a pancake supper at the church Thursday night. Why don't you come on down then? We can meet up and you can take a look at the truck. You do like pancakes don't you?"

"I love pancakes!" Had any other food sounded so magical he thought.

"Okay, good. The supper starts at 6PM and will last to 8. Do you think you can be here by 6:30?"

"I'll move heaven and earth." He pronounced

"I don't think that's necessary." She laughed. "You know where the church is?"

"Oooh, There's a problem."

"There is?"

"When I was there before, I was lost. I don't know the name of the town."

"Oh, it's Delbrock."

"Okay. As I remember I only saw one church when I was there. Is that the one we're talking about?"

"It is."

"So, I see you on Thursday at 6:30 at the church. Okay?" Xander said, with his heart bursting.

"Wait, I don't know what you look like." She replied with a touch of worry in her voice.

"Don't worry. I'll find you."

…

Author's note: Spike shows up next chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 3

Xander decided to leave work early on Thursday afternoon. He went home to shower, shave and find the perfect, yet casual outfit that would show him to his best effect. On his way home from the office, he filled the car's gas tank and checked the fluids, so he wouldn't have to mess with it on the way to Delbrock. He decided to leave an extra twenty minutes early. He didn't think that San Angelo would have a rush hour but better to be safe than sorry. He didn't want to be late for his 6:30 appointment with Anya or Annalee he now had to remind himself to call her.

He drove up to the church parking lot about five minutes after 6PM. First thing he did, was look for her truck. He saw it. It was located in the first row of parking up by the church. She must have gotten here early to help. He pretended to be on his cell phone as the locals pulled up and looked at the stranger in the parking lot. At 6:25, he closed his phone and made his way into the church. There was a meeting hall located at the back of the church. Xander followed the signs pointing to Fellowship Hall which had a paper sign saying Pancake Supper tonight taped to each one. As he paid the $7 entry fee. He thought the hall was a lot louder than he anticipated for a small town church. The room was filled with the sounds of people chatting, children laughing and playing and servers yelling back to the kitchen. There was a buffet table lined up up next to the window of the kitchen pass-through. You could hear the scraping of untensils and voices carrying through the window. Every once in a while, a large pan filled with pancakes would appear in the window which would suddenly be whisked to the buffet line where they soon disappeared. Servers would stick their head back through the window demanding more pancakes.

There were about 40 people milling about the hall with long tables covered with white butcher paper spotted with islands of maple syrup bottles and tubs of margarine located strategically down the middle of each. In the midst, he say Anya. It, indeed, was her. She was standing there wearing a simple cotton dress as she was talking to a pair of an older women who had stopped her. She smiled and nodded. She was so beautiful. His memories of her were a shallow reflection of the real thing. Oh Lord, it was like she was in slow motion, almost like a shampoo commercial, Xander thought. Oh God! I could just stand here forever looking at her. _"Okay Xander, you're going to scare the girl. GET IT TOGETHER!"_ said the voice in his head.

Xander walked up to Anya, smiling gently at her.

"Hi, I'm Alexander Harris, but my friends call me Xander. I believe we spoke on the phone." He said, holding out his hand.

"Oh hi! I'm Annalee. So, you made it!" as she grabbed his hand to shake it.

The touch of her hand, small and warm in his was almost too much for him. Tears rushed to his eyes.

"Excuse me. Sorry, I am having an allergy attack today." He explaining as he pulled his hand back to cover his eyes.

"Ooh, Yeah. Those can be bad if you're new to the area." She said to comfort him. She reached over to a table and handed him a napkin for his eyes.

"It looks like quite the turn out. I had no idea a breakfast food would create such a mob scene. What have I been missing?" he said as a joke while wiping his eyes.

"What can I say?- we're known for our cutting edge night life in this town." she joked.

Just then a gentle faced young man came up alongside Anya. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and placed his face along hers as he spoke.

"It looks like you did good, girl. Your ladies group really got quite the turn out tonight." The young man said with affecttion.

She laughed as he hugged her from behind and then she batted his hands away.

"Oh go on. Oh wait a minute. Xander..is that right? Let me introduce you to my brother, Clay. Clay, this is Xander Harris. He is the one who is interested in buying grandad's old truck. He wants to restore it for his Dad." She told Clay.

Relief flooded Xander. The young man was only her brother_. "Brother? Anya had a brother? Huh?"_ He would think about that later. Xander was also impressed that his sob story about his dad carried from the truck stop. He would have to remember to not to dispel the fantasy later on.

"Nice to meet ya, Xander. I hear you came all the way from San Angelo to have some pancakes with us this evening. I like a man serious about his food." Clay smiled.

"Nice to meet you too. I've been known to travel many distances when there is a good meal to be had." Xander joked back.

Clay laughed.

"So, where's Russell and Bill?" Anya asked.

"Oh, you know those English boys, they always get shanghaied by the pretty girls. I think Mary Sue and her group are keeping them pinned in the kitchen. If the guys don't make it out of there in the next two minutes, I am going to have to launch a rescue operation." Clay said looking around for his friends.

"English? Am I in some cosmopolitan capital? I thought I was in a quaint West Texas town?" Xander laughed.

"No, English is their last name. Their family runs the local Feed store. You couldn't have missed it. It has all the farm equipment on display out front." Anya answered bemused. "That's their sisters, Ruby and Maureen helping to man the buffet table."

Everyone could see that the flow of pancakes would ebb and flow depending on the level of sound and giggling coming out the kitchen. Clay went over to speak to two older women who were manning the ticket booth. The more formidable one stood up and went directly across the Fellowship hall and entered the kitchen. There was a sudden quiet that descended upon the kitchen. All sound in the entire hall also disappeared as everyone strained to hear the drama unfolding in the kitchen. The room was unable to hear distinctly what was said but from the tone of the older woman's side of the conversation, you could tell things were being set to rights in the kitchen. A moment later, a tall man with short curly hair and an embarrassed smirk came out the door followed closely by the older woman. The two young women behind the buffet table smothered their smiles behind their hands as they obviously enjoyed the scene.

The tall man sauntered up to the group, raising his eyebrows with a grimace. Clay rejoined the group, not bothering to hide the obvious smirk on his face. The tall man man gave Clay a small shove when he came up to the group as Clay put up his hands in a puzzled expression of innocence.

"Russell, are you never going to learn?" Anya asked

"It wasn't my fault. I was just following Bill. He was the one that got us trapped in the kitchen by coming in the back door. That tosser left me stranded." Russell replied. "He bailed when he saw Mrs. Fryley come into the kitchen. He jumped out the back door as quick as he could. I couldn't make it because Francine Harwell had me blocked in. I took all the blame for being a distraction in the kitchen. Lord help me, I'm going to kill Bill."

"Tosser? Where does that word come up in the Texas dialect?" Xander asked

"Oh, Our dad's english, which makes the last name an exercise in redundancy. The kids in our family have picked up some of his more colorful phrasing as we've grown up. Bill is the worst. He was born over in England and lived there till he was five." Russell went on, "I was only two when we moved back, so I didn't have a chance to develop the English accent like he did. He has worked to get rid of it but it is still very apparent."

"Oh yeah, Bill was teased relentlessly in elementary school for calling the principal, the headmaster. The boys in our class thought it was hysterical." Anya added. "You know boys humor…Head….Master. Ufgh, boys!" She shook her head with remembered disgust.

Anya looked around and saw the buffet line was moving. She decided that the group needed to grab a table while there were still some open if they were going to sit together.

"Come on everyone, let eat. Now that the kitchen is now clear of distractions, I think there's going to be higher production rate on pancakes coming out of the kitchen now." Anya announced.

The group gathered at the end of the buffet line and got their share of pancakes. They gathered at a empty spot at one of the last open tables which was set back by the kitchen. Passing the syrup and margarine, Xander had a few more questions that he directed toward the guys. He was sitting next to Anya, but he didn't want to become too intense on the pretty young woman who meant so much to him. _"So the better I make with the friends, the better I can make with her_" he thought.

"So, Clay and Russell are you both from around here?" Xander asked as he poured the syrup on his stack of pancakes.

"We better be. We all went to school together. The families around here have been here for generations." Clay responded, passing the margarine. "The English family is the closest thing we have to exotic we have around here."

"Exotic?" Anya nearly choked.

"Hey, I can do exotic- give me a chance!" burbled Russell

"So, Russell, how did your family end up here, if your dad is English?" Xander continued.

"My mom's family is from around here. She joined the navy out of high school and met my dad in Spain while he was on vacation. They fell in love and were married a couple of months later."

"Yeah, and Bill was born seven months after the wedding." Clay announced

"Mom said he was premature." Russell said solemnly.

"I guess your grandma shouldn't have been telling her church group that he was nearly nine pounds when he was born." Clay laughed.

Anya leaned over to Xander and whispered, "Small town. Everyone knows everything about each other."

Russell rolled his eyes and continued. "Mom got out of the Navy and my parents went to live in London. That is until Grandma called. Grandad was sick and they needed help with the ranch, so we all moved to Texas. My two sisters were born here. Dad really didn't take to ranching, so he opened the feed store. That's where Bill and I work, helping Dad out."

Taking a bite of pancake, Xander didn't notice the figure that came out of the kitchen door behind his back. He came up to the table and looked at the small group sitting there.

Russell looked up at the figure with an exasperated expression.

"Thanks for letting hang out to dry, mate!"

"What can I say, Baby? I've always been bad." An low voice with an English accent wafted over the table

Xander looked up and back over his shoulder where that voice came from. He choked slightly on the pancake in mouth, as his eyes went wide.

Standing there behind him was Spike.


	4. Chapter 4

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 4

Xander sat frozen with a mouthful of pancake while he staring at Spike for what seemed minutes but was actually only seconds before he remembered to start chewing. He looked back to the table with a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he studied his plate. After a beat, he came back to himself. Xander tilted his head to the side and tried to look casual as his eyes flew around the table to see if anyone had noticed his odd behavior. _"Lucky for me, I'm the new guy in town."_ he thought relieved.

At the table, Russell continued to talk to Spike as Anya slightly turned in her seat, enjoying the badgering between the two brothers. Xander turned his head just enough to see Anya. He purposefully kept his eyes away from the man standing behind them as if the man was a solar eclipse. The formidable woman from earlier, walked up to the table to greet the group.

"I see that you managed to join us, Bill; but I didn't see you come in the front?" the primly aggressive lady said.

"Oh Hello Mrs. Fryley. How are you doin this evenin?" Spike said with more than a little charm.

"I'm doing well. Of course, we are all working very hard to gather enough money to purchase the new software upgrade for the computer in the Church office. We're very close to our goal, so every dollar counts…" The older woman said, looking pointedly at the brothers

"That's why my brother was just on his way over to pay for his and my tickets." Russell added confidently, smiling seemingly admiringly at Alex. "I think you just may be able to get him to give an additional donation while you're at it. Mom is so proud of him."

"Uh, Yeah" Spike said, looking at his brother, rather puzzled.

"Well, let me escort you to the ticket table. I know Judith would love to say hello to you." Mrs. Fryley began to guide Spike toward the ticket table by the main doors. "She always looks forward to seeing you. She thinks you're such a nice young man."

"It'll be my pleasure, mam." Spike said offering his arm. As he swung Mrs. Fryley around, the smile from his eyes disappeared as he glared at his smirking brother. To the delight of the table, he mouthed the words: "You bleedin asshole" silently behind Mrs. Fryley's back.

As the laughter at the table died down, Xander watched the pair walk back to the front of the hall from over his shoulder. This joke had given him an opportunity to take a good look at Spike. Xander looked at the "new" good old boy version of Spike walking away from the group. The punk style hair was gone and the hair was now dark blonde and cut close to the head to deal with the curly hair. Instead of the black and red ensemble with a leather coat, Spike was now wearing slightly worn pair of blue jeans with a brownish plaid shirt rolled up at the sleeves. There was something else different about Spike, but Xander couldn't place his finger on it. Then, the realization hit Xander.. _"Wow, Spike with a tan!" _

He watched as Spike put down a twenty for the two tickets and an additional donation at the ticket table. Spike was talking to the lady handling the cash box, turning on the charm on the mature heavy woman, who blushed in response. That must be Judith, Xander thought. He watched as a little dark haired girl began to wrap herself around his leg. Xander watched as Spike looked down in surprise and greeted the little girl with a small pat. Spike then excused himself from the conversation with the older ladies and addressed the little girl. The girl pointed to a three older people that had just come in the door. It was obvious that by looking at them exactly who two of them were. There were elements in both people that had translated on to Spike. The woman had intense blue eyes and what looked to have been once strawberry blonde that hung down to her shoulders. One man had the same strong bone structure that Spike and Russell had. This couple, if they were going to be anyone, they had to be Spike's parents. The third person, an older man had a gentle smile that was somehow oddly reminiscent. Spike was led by the little girl over to the trio. He chatted amiably for a few minutes and nodded his head toward the table where Xander and his group were sitting. He turned back around to see Russell raise his hand in greeting.

The adults made their way over to the buffet line while the little girl made a bee line toward their table. She was soon standing behind Anya and put her hand on her shoulder.

Hi ya, Honey! Did you have a good time with Granddad today?" The little girl nodded. Anya wrapped her arm around the little girl's waist.

Are you hungry?" she asked, as she smoothed the little girl's hair behind her ear.

"Granddad's going to get me some paayn-cakes. " the little girl responded with a Texas drawl on the word pancakes.

Xander looked a little surprised at the discussion going on and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, let me introduce you. This is my little girl, Holland or Hollie for short." Anya smiled and said proudly. "Hollie, this is Mr. Harris."

"Hello Hollie. It's nice to meet you." Xander was able to choke out.

The little girl turned her brown eyes toward Xander and shyly smiled at him with a smile like Anya's and her Grandfather's. Although he tried not to show it, at that moment Xander's world fell apart. At the table beyond them the Spike and the other adults were sitting down. After he put down two plates of pancakes, the older gentlemen with the now reasonably familiar smile waved to Anya.

"Go visit Granddad. He's got your pancakes." As she scooted the little girl off with her hand.

"Cute little girl. You must be proud of her. I bet her father is too."

"Oh he is. That's Micah, right over there. Hollie was the best thing that came out our marriage" she said indicating a dark haired well built guy over the wall.

"Did I hear the word "was"?" Xander said hopefully

"Yeah, we divorced about when Hollie was two. We got married too quickly. I had an unreasonable fixation drive to marry and get settled with a good guy. She laughed. "Don't know where that came –probably some deep seated need, psychologically speaking."

Xander cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable. Just then, a short, well endowed young woman came by with a roll of tickets and a money bag. She had undistinguished features with a cap of over-bleached blond hair with tell tale roots stating that she actually had dark brown hair naturally. It was her air of aggressiveness and doggedness that made her difficult to politely turn down and made the ladies church group think she was the perfect choice for selling the lottery tickets.

"Hi Mary Sue. I see they let you out of the kitchen." Russell said as he saw the short woman approach the table.

"They thought my talents were better suited to lottery ticket sales. You burn a few pancakes.." She then turned on the sales pitch. "Would anyone like to buy a lottery ticket? There only five dollars. They're going to pull the winner at 7:30. The big prize is a weekend cabin rental on the Llano River in Junction. Remember, all proceeds are going to the church."

All the men at the surrounding tables pulled out their wallets, one or two did so with a resigned sigh. Russell and Clay each pulled out two fives and handed them over to Mary Sue. She tore off the tickets and handed them to the men.

"Here, I'll buy four." Xander spoke up and pulled out a twenty.

Mary Sue raised her eyes in surprise when she saw the twenty dollar bill come toward her.

"Wow, you're my biggest sale yet. That's a personal best for me." She tore off four tickets and handed them to Xander. "Good luck!"

About a half hour, the minister, Brother Craig stood up with a microphone and waved quiet to hall. Mary Sue stood beside him with a large plastic bucket in her hands which had obviously come from a Sunday school classroom.

Okay, everyone! We're going to draw for tonight's lottery prize. It is a weekend rental of a two bedroom cabin at the Shady Grove campground in Junction. It was donated by our friends and owners of the campgrounds: Ed and Darlene Murchison." Brother Craig announced. "I would like to thank them for their generous donation."

Brother Craig clapped his hands toward the couple sitting at one of the tables at the front, which everyone in the room soon followed. Ed lifted his hand in acknowledgement as Darlene tilted her head and grinned at her husband.

Okay, let's get this goin." Mary Sue stirred up the ticket stubs in the bucket and held it just above her eye level. Brother Craig reached over and pulled out a stub to announce the winning ticket.

It was with a great deal of surprise, that Xander realized that he had won the big prize. Everyone in the room laughed at his startled expression as he made his way over to Brother Craig. Brother Craig shook his hand while Mary Sue patted him on the shoulder. She handed him the certificate as he gave a small wave to the room. When he made it back to the table, the group congratulated him on his win. Hollie made her way over to her mother and wrapped her arms around Anya's neck. Anya pulled her onto her lap. Hollie laid her head on her mother's shoulder. Anya stroked her daughter's back and whispered to her. The little girl shook her head slightly. Anya turned back to Xander with a sigh.

I'm so sorry. I don't think that we're going to be able to get the truck thing done tonight. I need to take Hollie home. Can we reschedule? Anya looked over at Xander.

"_How can I ever resist her?"_ He thought. He smiled and said "Sure. After all this wasn't a total loss. I'm the big winner around here" Xander held up the certificate and waved it back and forth.

Anya laughed.

"Hey, we're all going down to Junction this weekend to go tubing and attend the music festival. You've got cabin rental, why don't you come along?" Anya suggested.

"Yeah, Cuz. You're more than welcome." Clay joined in

"Yeah, come on. It's gonna be a good time.. but you're bringing the beer" Russell added

"Alright, you twisted my arm." Xander smiled.

…

Later that evening, Xander was smiling as made his way out to his car. As he opened his car door, he thought of Buffy. Spike was here. Did he dare tell her? Did he dare not? Would he have wanted to know if the situation was reversed? He asked himself. Hell yea! He picked up his phone out of the glove compartment. Out here in the country, the cell coverage was kinda spotty. He looked at the screen on his phone- no bars. He moved around the parking lot, as a single short bar would appear and disappear on his screen. He finally stopped in a location where the bar did not waiver. He hit the button to automatically dial Buffy's number. His call, although faint, did go through. Buffy did not pick up, so his call went to voice mail. Xander left the following message:

"Buffy, it's Xander. Something important has happened. I really can't tell you on a voicemail, but it is vital you call me back. You need to get to Delbrock, Texas. God help me, I don't know how to say this. Call me as soon as possible."

Xander's phone went in and out, so this was message that Buffy heard:

"Buffy, it's Xander….has happened..can't tell you….it is vital you ..get to Delbrock, Texas…help me…..as soon as possible."


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 5

Sixteen hours later, Buffy was driving down the country road 211 in the middle of nowhere, Texas. She was cursing the inane GPS device along with a number of crumpled maps and open road atlas sitting on the passenger seat of her rental car. She did not like being lost and this was over the third time today. Coming back late from an intense meeting at the Council's office in New York, she finally saw her voicemail icon lit up on the screen of her phone. Once she heard Xander's message, she immediately called him back; but couldn't get through to him. Unfortunately, Xander who was still wandering around in a cloud of euphoria from his pancake encounter had accidentally turned his phone off. All Buffy's calls went directly to his voicemail. When Buffy called his office, they told her that he said he wouldn't be back until the following Monday, when he took off early on Thursday. That made her panic, what was going on in Texas? She couldn't even find Delbrock Texas. Did this place even exist?

Since hearing Xander's cryptic message, she had moved at lightning speed and with not a little expense to get to Delbrock. It had been a grueling experience just to get to this point. The weather had made her miss her connection in Chicago to Austin. The hours waiting in the airport lounge for the weather to clear and the morning flights to resume had allowed her worry to wear on her. The cajoling at the regional airline counter for a standby ticket to Austin on the first morning flight was interminable. The ominous waiting at the gate before she was given the go ahead to board the flight and take the last seat at the back of the plane was like another kick in the shins. She had rolled her eyes when the car rental agent just tore off the randomly standard map of the Austin area from a pad and proceeded to mark it up illegibly with a pen. He confidently told her that the car had been equipped with the latest model of GPS system, so she should have no problems. All she had to do was to enter the name of the town and it would guide her along the quickest route. After driving an hour, she realized that the agent had had no idea where Delbrock was and had an overly inflated idea of how miraculous the GPS actually was. Buffy stopped at a gas station bought one of every map and the big map atlas for Texas. Buffy cornered the cashier behind the checkout counter of the gas station for information, having no luck finding Delbrock listed in the map's index. Spreading the state map over the counter, she asked the woman to point it out. The clerk said she had never heard of Delbrock, but let her check with the mechanics. She went to the door to the car bays and yelled anyone knew where Delbrock was. A distant man's voice called back that it was somewhere near Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg. Okay, that was on the map, Buffy decided she would just drive to Fredericksburg and ask someone there for directions. Buffy ran back out to her car with her maps. She quickly typed in Fredericksburg and the GPS came to life. "Now where talking here!" she said triumphantly. Her tires screeched, as she pulled the car out of the station's parking lot and on to the Texas highway. Once she got to Fredericksburg, she stopped a gas station to ask about Delbrock. It was another round of ask all the staff at the gas station before someone said it was near Junction. Off she went to Junction; it was another city the GPS device could locate. It was the same story at Junction, till one of the old timers, said he knew had to get there. It had been a long time since he had been there, but he was pretty sure he knew the way. Buffy was pretty sure it must have been around the time of the wagon trains. He told her a long drawn out story of "Turn at a particular oak tree that had a rattlesnake skin nailed to it and drive till you see a rest stop with one picnic table, not the rest stop with two tables, but the rest stop with one table; but if ya saw a property entrance with a large dented red mailbox hanging upside down, you've gone too far". It was a set of directions that left Buffy with no concept of where she should go. Finally, someone mentioned that the county courthouse would know and pointed her down the street. After pausing to look at a Christmas tree made of deer horns proudly displayed downtown, she made her way over to the city offices where she was finally given some actual instructions that she could follow.

So, with the handwritten directions in her hand, Buffy headed off on her quest to Delbrock. She turned on to narrower and rougher roads, till she ended up on a small two lane county road that had definitely seen better days. She got so disheartened that she was just about to start looking for trees with a rattlesnake skin nailed to it, when she thought she saw a small sign at the side of the road that said Delbrock. Buffy looked back over her shoulder at the sign. Was that it? Where was the town? Maybe it was off the road somewhere. She didn't think she missed a turn-off. She only saw open countryside in front of her. She decided she would have to go back. About a quarter a mile up the road, she saw an old property entrance with a cattle guard. It looked like it had been abandoned, but you could tell that it still had some patches of coin size rocks as road filler. It was terribly overgrown, but Buffy thought, I just need it to turn around. It shouldn't be too difficult, so she pulled off on to the shoulder and felt a little bump.

Buffy could tell there was something wrong as soon as she tried to turn the wheel to start the U-turn. Uh oh, she thought when the wheel dragged when she tried to turn it. She put the car in park and got out. There it was a flat tire on the rear passenger's side, not just flat but it looked absolutely trashed. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time she had to change a tire. She was still wearing the linen blouse and slacks along with her fashionable high heel boots that she had worn to the meeting in New York yesterday. She had been in such a hurry to get to the airport; she had thrown a few things together in bag, not thinking to change clothes. Experiencing Texas heat, she was glad that she had worn linen blouse. It at least allowed air flow. They weren't lying about Texas heat and it was getting a little oppressive. Not even the gusty but constant wind offer any relief. Buffy had her hair in a low ponytail, but the wind was teasing a good part of it out of the band. It was whipping around her head, making it look like the spun sugar in a cotton candy machine. Buffy opened the trunk and released the spare tire from its' holding clamp. She pulled it out and rolled it over to the passenger side. She went back to the truck for the jack. She pulled out the jack and placed it under the car. There was something missing. Where was the handle to the jack? She went back to the trunk and looked again. It wasn't there.

"That's great! Oh Well, necessity is somebody's mother.." she said to herself.

Buffy looked around and came back with a dried out piece of cedar. Maybe, this could work. She repositioned the jack under the car and wedged the cedar into the hole for the handle. The cedar just shattered. Well maybe, she could just manhandle the jack into working by using her finger. After a few seconds of trying and ending up with a sore fingertip, she knew that wasn't going to work. She stood up and surveyed the surroundings. What were her options? She could see the rooftops of a small group of buildings back where she had seen the sign. She decided that's the most likely place she would find help.

"Come on boots, start walking" Buffy said as she determinedly set off for civilization.

It was a good fifteen minutes later that she finally made it to the Feed store parking lot. Buffy thought that she would have to send the Italian manufacturer a thank you note regarding how well suited their boots were for walking up a pock marked county road. Her feet were not only stone bruised, but her ankles had decided to accompany that agony with their own symphony of pain. The constant wind and heat had continually thrown up dust so that she felt positively filthy. She knew that she looked a mess. She limped up to the front door of the Feed store and went inside. She made her way through the myriad stacks of feed bags, a table of Dickie's work clothes and a few bird houses made out of old cowboy boots until she reached the counter at the back of the store. She saw an older woman working on a ledger on the counter, with reading glasses balanced on the end of her nose.

"Howdy. What can I do ya for today?" the woman said, still engrossed in the notes she was recording on the ledger.

"Uh Hi. I was driving by and I managed to get a flat tire. It seems my rental company forgot to include the handle for the jack." Buffy said as she walked up to the counter. "I was wondering if you could help me."

The lady looked up with startling bright blue eyes. She smiled at Buffy, who stood there looking and feeling like a chewed up rag.

"One of those days? Sure, we can help you out." She pulled out the receiver off the phone and punched in a few numbers. Suddenly, you could hear a beep sound on the outside intercom and the lady announced that "Service, call 14 please."

"It may be a few minutes; the boys are busy with a special order of deer stands that just came in for the local hunting club. Would you like something to drink?" the woman indicated a table a few yards away. "There's coffee over there or I have some ice tea in the refrigerator?"

"Tea would be great." Buffy said gratefully.

The woman closed the ledger and put it under the counter. She turned around and went back to the office. Buffy noticed a bench over to the side of the counter and sat down. She made a small "oof" sound as she sat down. It was heaven to be off her feet. She pulled up one her leg and placed the ankle over the other leg's knee, while she grasped at her ankle in pain. She wriggled her ankle in an effort to free the tension.

The woman came back with a tall glass of ice tea with so much ice, that the glass was already sweating. Buffy accepted the glass gratefully and downed nearly half in the first sip.

"Wow. You were really thirsty." Said the older woman who was entertained by Buffy's antics.

"It was really hot out there. I guess I am not used to it." Buffy sighed while trying to catch her breath from the long drink

"Where are you from? You can't be from around here with those shoes." The woman said, looking at the five inch spike heels on Buffy's boots.

"Yeah, they are a little out of their depths here. My feet are killing me. Obviously, the shoe designers are exhibiting hatred toward women; but it is such pretty torture. Oh well, the price we pay for fashion." Buffy laughed. "I just flew in from New York this morning."

"Wow, you are out of your element. Don't tell anyone around here, but I liked New York when I went through there. Of course, my favorite city is London." The woman said, leaning back against the counter and sipping her own glass of tea. "I have some very good memories of living there."

"London? I just finished a job assignment in London. I'm Buffy Summers by the way." Buffy brought the tea back up for another long sip. "How did you end up here?"

"Oh, you know the usual reasons..Family. Nice to meet you. I'm Jewel Ann English." said the older woman, smoothing her hair back from her face. "Would you like some more tea?"

"Oh Please. I didn't realize how thirsty I was. Thanks again for the tea. It's wonderful" as Buffy handed her glass to Jewel Ann.

"You're more than welcome." As Jewel Ann turned away to go back to the kitchen. " In Texas, ice tea is about as necessary as bees for honey. There's nothing better for the heat."

A few moments later, Jewel Ann was back with newly refilled glasses of tea.

"So, what brings you all the way to Texas?" Jewel Ann asked when she handed a new glass of tea to Buffy.

"I am here to help a friend." Buffy responded. "You haven't seen anyone new around, have you?"

"No, but if anyone would know if there was a new guy in town, it would be my Ruby. As she says, she is always looking for new talent." Jewel Ann said, casting her eyes to the ceiling with a slight purse to her lips.

Buffy thought there was something familiar about that expression. She had seen it before, but she couldn't place where. The women continued to visit for the next few minutes until Jewel Ann realized that the service department had not responded to her page.

"What is taking so long for those boys to respond to the page? Let me try again" Jewel Ann said looking at the dark lights on the phone. She went back behind the counter and paged them again. After a few more minutes, she sighed.

"I guess they can't hear me with the assembly of the deer stands. You may have better luck to locate one of them, if you go out the back. I know they're out there by the tool noise. Just tell them, that Jewel Ann sent you." Jewel Ann said confidently as she pointed to the door at the rear of the store. "One of them will help you."

As soon as Buffy stepped through that back door, the Texas heat hit her like a slap in the face. She recoiled just a little bit until she could get accustomed to it. The light of early afternoon was shining down harshly giving a hard washed out look to the landscape. Not too far off, on the other side of a large shed; she could hear some pneumatic tools being used. She headed toward the sound. She picked her way over the uneven ground, grumbling about balancing on the tiny heels of her boots on the rocky and beaten ground.

She finally made it to the far side of the shed. There she saw a back of man standing there with a pneumatic wrench in his hands raised about a foot over his head. Staying out of the overgrown weeds that surrounded three sides of the work area, Buffy tiptoed around the stacks of metal supports to get closer and ended up by the end of pickup tail gate which had the supplies for the air compressor being used. The air compressor stood between her and the man. She figured that this was as good a spot to be noticed when the man took a break from assembling the stand. While she was waiting, she took a good look at the man working there. He had been wearing work coveralls, but the heat had been too great, so now the top of it was hanging around his waist. He was wearing one of those sleeveless undershirts called a wife beater. His well tanned arms were shiny with sweat that defined the radical hills and valleys caused by his muscles tensing as the wrench jolted in his hands. He was not overly tall, but the sweaty shirt clung to from his well built shoulders down to his narrow waist. There wasn't an inch of fat on the lean frame. "Talk about talent" Buffy thought to herself.

Buffy noticed that the man was wearing goggles and sound protection earmuffs over his dark blond hair. No wonder the page hadn't been answered, Buffy thought. The man continued to work on the large tripod over his head while Buffy enjoyed the view. After giving a bolt a final turn, the man relaxed and lowered the wrench in his hand, the air compressor by the end of the tripod shifted into a lower gear downgrading the noise level. The man took a deep breath and examined his work. Satisfied, he reached up to pull off the goggles up to his forehead and moved the earmuff off one of his ears to wipe the sweat from his face with the back of his forearm.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" Buffy yelled over the air compressor, trying to get the man's attention.

The man looked back at Buffy over his shoulder, his blue eyes catching fire under the intense sunlight. All the oxygen in the atmosphere suddenly evaporated around Buffy as she looked at that face. Buffy stumbled and fell backwards. Her mind wildly rolling the same overwhelming and glorious thought over and over.

It was Spike.


	6. Chapter 6

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 6

As Buffy stepped back in surprise, her skinny expensive Italian heels stumbled over a odd scattered rocks sticking up in the uneven ground. Buffy felt herself falling. As she fell, she felt her body brush against the tailgate of the truck parked there. She twisted slightly in an attempt to grab the tailgate to stop her fall. Her hands grasped wildly while trying to gain purchase, bumbling over the objects sitting on the end of the tailgate. Still reeling from the shock of seeing Spike, Buffy could not get her hands to work correctly to stop her fall. She felt herself going past the edge of the tailgate as she managed to knock a few things over before she landed heavily on her rump on the hard ground. She made an 'Oomph' sound as her backside made impact. The momentum of the fall carried her back onto her elbows. Unfortunately, one of the items that she had managed to dislodge was an open container of oil for the compressor. The oil sloshed back and forth in the container before it fell over on its side. The open mouth of the container hanging over the edge of tailgate began pouring oil in great gulps over Buffy. Still in a state of shock, Buffy sat where she was and only put up a hand against the onslaught of oil pouring on her.

The young man over by the deer stand put down the tool and pulled off his goggles and ear protection as he raced over to her. He flipped the switch on the compressor as he momentarily stopped and then put the oil container upright stopping the flow of oil onto Buffy before he knelt down beside the young woman. His blue eyes were wide in a face of concern as he leaned over her.

"Are you okay, Miss?" Spike looked directly into Buffy's face, his eyes showing no sign of recognition. He worriedly looked at the woman sprawled on the ground.

"Spike! Spike!" Buffy kept saying, trying to get some small sign that it was him. She was blinking away the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. It was him. Those blue eyes, the scar on the eyebrow, it was all there. His platinum hair was gone, but it was cut short and it was such a nice soft color of dark blonde, she thought. His voice was a revelation. It cleared up any linger doubt that this might be a doppelganger. The accent in his voice rolled over her that it caused a physical reaction in her body. She started shaking slightly as she tried to move.

"Oh, Sweet Lord! There's a bleedin spike?" Spike's eyes danced around the ground looking for anything that the young woman might have hurt herself on. His hands were patting around the ground, looking for some odd piece of metal that might have stuck the woman.

Buffy sat back a moment and looked at the young man attending her. He did not recognize the name Spike. She remembered his other name and whispered it out loud.

"William? "

"Uh, yeah? I don't see where you fell on anything. Where are you hurt?" Spike answered as he eyes moved up from the ground back to Buffy, traveling all over her looking for an injury. All of a sudden, they flew open wide and Spike looked away ninety degrees. "Oh!" He pulled a rag that he d been using while constructing the deer stands out of his back pocket and offered it to Buffy. Buffy looked at the rag in Spike's hand with confusion then back over to the vampire kneeling in broad daylight.

"You may want this." Spike said, not daring to look at Buffy. Buffy again looked at the rag that was being held out to her. From there, her eyes traveled from his hand down to her body. She realized that the oil had soaked her white linen top but also that of the sheer pale pink silk camisole underneath. It seemed that she was putting on quite the show. She grabbed the rag and held it up against her chest.

Th…Thank you." She stuttered.

"My pleas..Uh..umm.. D..don't think nothin of it." An obviously embarrassed Spike determinedly kept his eyes averted. Then after a moment, he asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine other than the bruise to my ego." Buffy said as a gentle joke. She wanted to get Spike to look at her. She wanted to touch him. She had to convince herself that he was real. "Help me get up?"

"Oh, Of course. I'm sorry. I am just sitting here, frozen like a bloody statue." Spike got to his feet and bent over to offer his arms.

Buffy slowly put her hand on in his right as his left arm traveled around her back. She closed her eyes as she felt his embrace tighten in order to assist her in standing. She felt the calluses on his hand in hers, should could see the blond hairs on the brown skin of his forearm. She noticed to her delight that there were even small freckles underneath the dark tan of his arms. She pulled herself up and slowly got to her feet. She found herself next to him in the circle of his arms, standing a bit unsteadily. Spike feeling her stagger, tightened his arms around her. With that little gesture, Buffy lost all control. She turned toward him and leaned herself against him as if all the power had been drained out of her. She put her head against his shoulder and began all out bawling. No, It was not the "Pretty cry", with the one tear slowly going down a cheek which didn't disturb your make up. To Buffy's horror, she realized she was in the midst of the most feared "Ugly cry", the all out gut wrenching ugly cry. The downturned gaping mouth, the face crumpled up and becoming red like a beet, copious amount of unending tears coming out her eyes, the hiccupping accompanying the unearthly blaring siren noise coming straight from her misery. The ugly cry was known to make men suddenly disappear and never be heard from again as if a tornado had come along and picked them up.

Spike stood there perplexed. The young woman was having some kind of breakdown in his arms. He wasn't sure what the right move was, but from the sound of her crying, it was obvious she was in a lot of pain. Spike resolved to let her cry it out. Sometimes, you just need a shoulder to cry on and that she had chosen him, a total stranger was a little flattering. Since he didn't know what to say, he remained quiet, but put his hand gently on her back and left it there till she was done.

After a solid five minutes of bawling, and another three trying to control the sniffles and hiccups, Buffy pulled her head away from Spike's shoulder. She was grateful for the blessing that her head was turned away from Spike while she tried to control the damage to her person. She pulled up a corner of the rag that was not soaked with oil and wiped at her face. It took several tries, but she think she got the worst of it. Still not daring to look at Spike's face, she looked back at his shoulder where her head had been. 'Oh God, was her nose running too?' She took the rag and wiped at the fluids she had left on his shoulder.

"Sorry." She said as she closed her eyes in mortification.

"Not a problem. Feel better?"

"You know I mentioned that bruise to my ego a few minutes ago- Well, now it should be on life support."

Spike chuckled. Buffy turned to look at Spike's face as the grin faded and he was looking at her. She studied his face, looking for any sign of recognition on his part. There was none. Spike didn't remember her. Without thinking, she put her hand alongside his cheek and used her thumb to brush the cheekbone. His expression was one of honesty and gentleness. A smile twitched in the corner of his mouth. Suddenly the reality of situation hit her. He must think her some deranged mental institution escapee she realized. She self consciously pulled her hand back and looked down, while feeling a blush travel all the way up to her hairline.

"Thank you for letting me….you know. I've had a lot on my mind recently." Buffy murmured.

"You're welcome." Spike whispered to her and patted her back. After a moment, he took a big sigh and looked away. "So, uh…Let's get you cleaned up."

The pair moved as one as they returned back to the store. Spike never removed his arms around apparently soul weary Buffy the entire way. Even when they got to the back porch, Spike pulled one arm away only to open the door but quickly returned it to usher Buffy inside.

'Funny,' Spike thought as they walked together, 'In a normal instance, you would think there would be some unease or clumsiness between the two people, but there was none. It was like they fit together. Having this young woman in his arms was like…what was the word that best described it? HOME.'

….

It was almost seventeen minutes later, that Buffy found herself in an "English Feed and Farm Supply" T shirt. The oil soaked top and camisole were wrapped up tightly in a plastic bag beside her. Jewel Ann had taken over caring for the young woman almost immediately when she saw the young couple enter the back of the store. Bill had had his arms wrapped protectively around the young woman, Buffy who had obviously had some sort of accident out back. Of course, Jewel Ann being a mother with grown sons and no grandchildren yet, also noticed what a nice looking couple the pair made together

Jewel Ann dismissed Bill to go get his brother and for the two of them to attend to the young woman's car down the road. Bill said something to Buffy who nodded. Bill took a moment where it looked like he didn't want to let go of the young woman, but looking over at his mother's face, turned and left. Jewel Ann took Buffy back to the restroom where they kept an orange based cleanser to remove the oil. The older woman left to get some clean towels and a new shirt for Buffy. Buffy was alone in the bathroom when she turned to look at herself in the mirror. It was worse than she could ever imagine. Aside from the walk from the car leaving her dirty and hair tangled, the bleary red eyes and swollen nose didn't help matters. It also was apparent that the corner of the rag was not oil free that she used to wipe her face. There were large swipes of dark oil that mixed with the dust on her face. 'I look like some kind of sewer dweller. Eight years and the first time Spike sees me, I look like this!' she screamed in her mind. She put her head in her hands as she leaned over the sink.

There was a soft knock on the door. Jewel Ann had returned with a promotional T shirt, towels and a hairbrush. Jewel Ann made a little joke about the T shirt about not letting her forget her visit as she handed them to Buffy. Buffy smiled and thanked the woman before Jewel Ann closed the door. She turned back to the mirror and began to task of bringing herself back to humanity.

Now ensconced in her new T shirt and smelling to high heaven of oranges, Buffy closed her cell phone with a sound of disgust as she waited for news on her car. There were absolutely zero bars on the phone. She needed to talk to Xander. It was his voice mail that had led her here to Delbrock. She had left several voice messages since last night, but he had not returned one of them. Her frustration began to think of what she was going to say to him when she did contact him. Her thoughts bounced between wanting to throttle him for leaving such a cryptic message and wrapping him in a giant hug for the best gift of her lifetime. Buffy noticed the old phone sitting on the counter. She stood up and pulled it over. She dialed Xander's cell phone number. It rang and rang and just before it was about to go to voice mail, someone picked up.

"Hello" said a voice on the other end

"About time you picked up!" Buffy declared vehemently.


	7. Chapter 7

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 7

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon that Xander pulled into a gas station on the edges of San Angelo. The intense heat pounding down from the staggeringly bright sky, which made sections of the asphalt ahead on the roads look wet. Looking for a pump in the shade, Xander pulled over by one of the pumps that was still sheltered from the afternoon sun and filled his gas tank of his rental car. He energetically walked over to the convenience store, as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket to pay for the gas. His feet not touching the ground, Xander could feel the elation from the previous night permeate every fiber of his being and made every moment seem an almost divine experience.

When he had gotten up that morning, it was with a smile on his face and lightness around his heart that he had forgotten was even possible. He had been unconsciously humming all morning as he moved around the lifeless corporate apartment, preparing for the weekend in Junction. The current assignment in Texas was only supposed to last five weeks, so Xander had accepted living in the company's drearily mundane apartment for the time being. He had become accustomed to the dull dishwater décor that was indicative to standardized corporate apartments. After past eight years of existing while trying to cope with the loss of Anya, the stale corporate housing seemed like a benignly vapid comfort to him. It did not challenge or violate the sheer monotony of his current life and did little to remind him of what he had lost.

The exception was this morning; he was overcome with the beauty of the world around him as he sauntered out of his bedroom toward the kitchen. This morning, the sublime charm of the overly bland living room set impressed him as never before. As he made his way over to the tiny utilitarian kitchenette, he picked up a slightly worn brown and beige stripped throw pillow as he passed the innocuously flavorless living room set. He repeatedly chucked it in the air, watching with satisfaction as the pillow's corners spun in the air in front of his face between tosses. As Xander reached the kitchen, he turned and pitched the pillow with a flashy pose and yelled "Pow" when it landed on the couch.

Xander went into the kitchen and using the tiny coffee maker, made a full pot of coffee which consisted of four cups. He then got out a box of one of those healthy grain based cereals that the best thing that could be said about it was that it could bring down your cholesterol. 'Too bad, it wasn't pancakes.' he mused. He poured himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. After pulling out the milk from the refrigerator and adding a glug of milk into his cereal and his coffee, he leaned back against the counter and began to eat the cereal. Pausing a moment between chews of the toughly edible twig like cereal, Xander began to rewind the events of the previous evening.

'How? How in the world could it be?' Anya was back. Not that he was complaining, mind you. His Anya. No. Wind it back: Annalee. What the hell does it matter what she calls herself? He would be will to call her any name she desired. The only thing that mattered was she was back. 'Thank you. Thank you.' he thought to anyone who was listening. Not only was she back, but she was okay, it occurred to him. It seemed the terrible events in Sunnydale had never touched her. Just knowing of her mere presence in the world seemed to awaken a part in him again, he had thought had gone with her passing. He had not really noticed that he had just been existing in the years since Sunnydale, but to see her was to breath the air again, the see colors again, to taste food again. Xander paused and looked down at the bowl he was holding. Wrinkling his nose, he turned and put the half eaten bowl on the counter with distaste. He pushed himself away from the counter and went back to his bedroom.

He opened his closet to pull a bag to pack for the trip. He paused as he thought My God; it was like someone had hit the reset button on his soul. All the misery, guilt, pain and other crap that had been weighing him down had suddenly evaporated when he saw her smile at him again. Thoughts of seeing Anya again this weekend kept him bouncing around the room the entire morning as he packed his bags for the weekend in Junction. Once he zipped up the bag, he canvassed the room for anything he might have forgotten. It was then that he remembered his phone. He looked around for it but it didn't seem to be in the apartment. He checked his coat pockets. 'No, it wasn't there. Oh well, it must be in the car,' he thought.

As Xander entered the convenience store to pay for his gas, he saw the refrigerated wall of soft drinks and beer lining the back of the store. 'Wasn't he supposed to bring the beer?' a voice spoke up in his head. He decided that he should grab a couple of cases just to be friendly. He put his wallet back in his back pocket as he walked down the aisle next to the clear refrigerator doors. There was quite a variety of beer to choose from. He had a feeling that he would be judged on his choice of beer at the gathering, so he did not want to make an ass of himself in front of the group. Xander turned around and walked toward checkout counter. A man and a woman were standing there wearing the unflattering unisex vests that announced their official position with the gas station. The man had his back to Xander as he was busy jamming cigarettes into the tiny racks on the wall behind the counter. The woman was leaned back against a stool near the cash register, watching the man with a painfully bored expression as she picked at some peeling nail polish on her finger.

"Excuse me. I was wondering if you could recommend some beer. You see, I have to supply the beer for a get together." Xander asked with a nervous smile.

The woman shifted her heavy lidded eyes toward Xander as he spoke. His question did little to break her out of her apathetic state, only her mouth being pulled to the side was an indication that she was considering his request. Xander stood there waiting for her anxiously waiting for her guidance as if she was an Oracle giving divine instruction at Delphi. Finally, she slightly opened her mouth and her nasal voice cut through the air with the high pitched Texas whine of the more economical trailer parks in the area. As she spoke, the disinterested look on her face did not shift.

"Yeah. Bud Lite or Coors Lite are real popular. You should also get some Shiner Bock, if you want to impress people ..." She said, indicating the back of the store with a slight lift of her head.

Making a shopping list in his head of the woman's recommendations, Xander returned to the refrigerator section and pulled a number of cases. On his way back to the cashier, he grabbed a cheap Styrofoam cooler with two bags of ice, a couple of bags of potato chips, a box of chewy granola bars and a package of powdered doughnuts. He unloaded his haul at the cashier counter and was soon out the door having paid for the gas and other items.

Once Xander reached his car, he opened a rear door and unloaded his groceries onto the back seat. He sat the cooler on the ground next to car and after putting the beer inside it, began covering them with ice. He was just emptying the second bag of ice over the beer in the cooler when he heard his phone ring. He was right, he had left it somewhere in his car. Placing the half empty bag of ice next to the cooler, Xander quickly opened up the front passenger door, looking for the ringing phone. After some scrabbling, he finally located the errant phone. It had somehow slid under some paperwork that was lying on the seat, so by the time he picked it up the call was just about to go to voicemail. He grabbed the phone without looking at the screen and quickly pushed the send button to answer the call.

"Hello."

"About time you picked up!" The voice on the other end, declared vehemently. Xander recognized Buffy's voice immediately.

"Heeeey, Buff!" Xander said in a long drawn out way, to cover his unease at being caught unaware on the phone with her.

"Don't you 'Hey Buff' me!" Buffy snapped back immediately.

"Huh? What?" Xander responded with confusion.

"Oh, you know. You don't just ..don't just leave a message like that and then don't answer your phone." Buffy said, while trying to keep a reign on her emotions. "A reasonable person would be ready to wring your neck! Thank God! I am not known for my reason."

"Eh, yeah. Sorry, Buff. I mislaid my phone and just now found it." Xander said as he began to rub the back of his neck. "There was something that I wanted to tell you. I am not sure if this is something I can tell you over the phone…"

"Something about Delbrock?" Buffy prodded, an edge creeping into her tone.

"Oh, yeah." Xander nervously chuckled. "I mentioned it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you sure did." Buffy confirmed, with a definite edge in her tone.

"Okay. Hmmm. There's …ah well..there's something you should know." Xander began slowly.

"Oh, I think I already do." Buffy interjected, cutting Xander off in midsentence.

"You mean, you know? About Delbrock?" It was Xander's turn to sound surprised.

"Where do you think I am?" Buffy stated, as if talking to six year old.

….

After letting Xander know that she was sitting in the English Feed store in greater Delbrock and guess who she ran into, they decided to meet up there. Buffy did not tell him about her earlier escapade with her car and the even more so delightful details of her encounter with Spike. She had recently had her fill of humiliation for the day, and just didn't feel like sharing at the present time. As she was sitting there, one of the English boys drove back in a pickup from where the two men had taken to go to see about her car. With a mixed reaction of disappointment and relief, Buffy saw that it was not Spike that had returned. It was someone who resembled Spike, but was taller and had brunette hair. He had moved a few feet inside the door, when he motioned Jewel Ann to come over. Buffy hung her head, as she waited patiently for the diagnosis of her car's situation. As she was looking down, she saw the shadow of Jewel Ann approach.

"Buffy honey, the boys took a look at your car. It has turned out that there was more wrong with your car than just a flat tire. You broke the axel." Jewel Ann said gently.

"UH! Oh great!" The guttural sound broke out of Buffy's throat when she heard the report.

I hope you got the additional insurance." Jewel Ann prodded hopefully.

Buffy kept her head down as she nodded. Knowing her own past history with driving, she knew that she needed every bit of insurance that was offered.

"Is there someone you can call? I can always get one of the boys to drive you somewhere…" Jewel Ann offered.

"No. I'm sorry, but I used your phone over there to call a friend. I hope you don't mind. My cell phone won't work here." Buffy said, still mortified "He's on his way here now."

"That's fine, Sugar. We just don't have enough towers out here in the hill country to merit using cell phones." Jewel Ann said comfortingly. "We're a little behind the times. Would you like to use the phone to call the insurance company?"

"I guess I should." Buffy took a deep breath and gathered herself to stand when a thought hit her. "Oh, I left the rental agreement in the glove compartment in the car."

"Don't worry. Russell has to go back down there and help Bill. I'll tell him to bring back the paperwork when they come back. Okay?" Jewel Ann said comfortingly.

Buffy nodded and watched as Jewel Ann retreated back to the area over to the side of the store where there was a door. A minute later, Russell came out carrying a large milk jug of cold water and had a heavy looking tow chain lain over the other shoulder. He was polite enough, not to look directly at Buffy who was still sitting there emanating dejection. He quickly moved through the store and back out to the pickup sitting out front. Buffy heard the engine start up and the sound of gravel being flung about as the pickup pulled away.

Jewel Ann returned back to the store counter. She began straightening papers and adjusting pamphlets in their holders. She told Buffy that they were going to try to tow her car up to the Feed store, if they could manage it.

It was well over an hour and a half later that Buffy heard a pickup pull up front of the store. Spike and Russell came in through the front doors. Russell followed Spike in the doorway and traveled over to room behind the counter as Spike came over to where Buffy was sitting. He had her rental agreement in his hand. From her seat, she looked up at him. Spike was sticky, sweaty and dirty as he stood there looking at her. Buffy thought she had never seen him look so glorious. The light was beaming in the windows behind him while the sweat glistened over his tanned body. She had to look away as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her as it reminded her of another time he glowed with light. The pungent smell of his body filled her nostrils…Oh God, it smelled like him. She had forgotten how good he smelled. He didn't smell like windblown meadows or waves crashing against rocks or anything you would see on an aftershave commercial. It was just intrinsically Spike but with the heat and being human again, it was even more so. Buffy could feel another volatile emotional episode coming on. She gripped her hands tightly on the edge of the bench and willed most of it back. Feeling the blood rush to her face, she did her best to plaster a calm look on her face as she tried once again to look up to his face.

Spike surprised her as he knelt in front of her. He held the packet of the rental agreement just above her lap. He looked into her face with a caring look which brought back so many memories to her.

"I brought you the paperwork from your car." Spike said quietly. The simple statement alongside the low tone he used was enough to provide an intimacy between the two of them

Unfortunately, with that small gesture, Spike had punched a hole in the wall of reserve that Buffy had constructed to keep the more dramatic emotions at bay. Buffy could feel her eyes welling up with unshed tears, as she looked down at the contract being held in front of her. Buffy took the contract in her hand, and looked away from Spike for a moment to try to regain control.

Spike did not move as he watched the attractive young woman still having a hard day. He moved the hand that had handed her the paperwork over to her upper arm, in order to provide some comfort. Buffy closed her eyes as she felt his hand on her arm, she could not help but wonder about how warm it was. A few tears escaped her closed lids, as she moved her opposite hand over to lie across Spike's forearm. Although Buffy knew he didn't know her, she had to indulge in touching him one more time.

…

Xander had pulled up in front of the English Feed and Supply a few minutes before. He entered the glass doors at the front of the store and strained his neck upwards as he looked around for Buffy. He maneuvered through the maze of displays as he worked his way back to the counter he could see in the center of the store. He did not see Buffy and Spike there by the counter until he was almost on top of them. First thing, Xander noticed were the tears that were sliding down Buffy's cheeks. Seeing Buffy there, in an obvious state of distress with Spike holding on to her arm, brought up all the knee jerk reactions of Sunnydale to the surface in him. He immediately stamped over to the couple who up to that moment seemed unaware of him. He reached down and angrily pushed Spike on the shoulder away from Buffy. As Spike rocked back, he looked up at Xander with surprise on his face.

"What the hell did you do to her, Spike?" Xander demanded in instinctive rage, standing there with his hands in fists by his side.

Suddenly, Xander felt a heavily calloused hand clamp down upon his shoulder.

"If I were you, I would be thinking real hard about my next move, son." An older man with a British accent warned in good natured, but ominous tone.


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

….

Chapter 8

Hearing the voice of the older man, Xander was suddenly jolted back to the present as he remembered where he was and who he had just pushed. His eyes widened as he saw Spike looking up at him with no recognition. Making a audible gulp sound, he looked around to see an older man, who had a distinct resemblance to Spike standing next to him, giving him a direct stare that promised that Xander would not like the outcome if he chose to pursue the matter further with Spike. Xander's mouth repeatedly opened and closed in distinct unease as he turned his head back to Spike who was getting back to his feet.

With a barely audible groan, Buffy, who had not moved from her location on the bench brought up her hand to shield the side of her face away from the melodrama that was occurring a few away. Looking for justification of his actions, Xander looked to check on the status of his old friend.

"Buffy? Are you…" Xander stammered, outstretching a hand toward the bench.

Xander was cut off by the furtive thrashing arm of Buffy to silence him, as she kept her head turned from the men. It appeared that Buffy did not want any further participation in this debacle. She had already had her fill on overblown emotional scenes for the day. Xander began to breathe a little faster as his face began to display the embarrassment that had been creeping up from his toes. As he let an ingratiating smile spread over his face as he looked from Spike to the older man who had not removed his hand. Letting out little puffs of air as he chuckled as he said in a slightly higher tone than he would have liked.

"Well, It appears that I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I apologize." Xander said affably. "I just saw my friend's tears and it made me a little over protective."

"Ta, think nothing of it." Spike said as he stood up, brushing off his jeans. "I would likely do the same thing."

"Wow! That's very Zen of you, Spike." Xander said without thinking.

Spike tilted his head and wrinkled his brow at the phrasing and looked mildly puzzled. Buffy pulled her hand away from her face in horror when she heard Xander use Spike's name.

"Yeah, Spike is a word that we use in California. You know, like Dude or Bro." she quickly interjected.

"Oh, you're from California, huh?" Spike said, sounding like he had just discovered the reason for the strange behavior of the pair.

Seeing the tension had dissipated, the older man roughly patted Xander on the shoulder before give him a small manly shove.

"Perfectly understandable, mate. It's good that this whole thing didn't get out of hand." The older man's clipped accent cut through the air. "Well, I see that the young lady's friend has arrived to fetch her. Son, I need your help in the back." The older man turned and walked away from the group.

In response, Xander turned his head to watch the formidable man leave and noticed a pretty young woman with long strawberry blonde hair hovering in the background behind the older man. She seemed to be very invested in the proceedings going on, as she was craning her neck to hear everything. The man took a few steps back and walked around to the front of the store, grabbing the elbow of the curious girl with the strawberry blonde hair. Although she did accompany the older man, but kept her head turned to catch what happened next.

Letting out a slow breath, Spike looked bashfully at the floor and then over at Buffy and Xander. He looked very uncomfortable at Xander's presence. Taking a brief look at Xander, Spike took a step toward Buffy.

"Since your friend is here, I'll leave the two of you alone." Spike said, with a a slightly resigned tone.

Buffy nodded miserably as she didn't want to let Spike out of her sight, but she really wanted this current situation to end. She was tired of smelling like oranges and motor oil. She knew her current behavior would only make Spike think that she had missed the last drug distribution at the county home. Spike reluctantly began take a few steps toward the room behind the counter, then began to walk at a quickened pace till he was out of the room and Xander and Buffy were alone.

"Are you okay?" Xander asked as he turned after watching Spike leave the room.

"Oh Xander! Just get me out of here please. I wasn't expecting..you know. I just can't get myself together." Buffy said miserably, then leaning forward she whispered. "They think I'm a lunatic."

With his arm wrapped around Buffy, Xander guided her outside to his car. They sat there for a while, while Buffy explained about her car and the events at the Feed store. Reaching behind the seat, Xander dug in the back and passed her a beer from cooler. Buffy looked gratefully at her old friend as she took it from his hand. After drinking one full beer almost immediately, Buffy told him to drop her off at the nearest hotel while she was in the midst of her second. Xander explained that there weren't any hotels in such a small town. As they drove away from the Feed store, he told her about Anya and the weekend plans. He informed her in no uncertain terms that she was coming with him. In an effort to persuade her, he indicated that Spike was likely going to attend as they stopped at her car. Buffy hurriedly got her small suitcase from the trunk and hopped back in Xander's car.

As they drove into Junction, they decided to stop off to get some more provisions and so Buffy could purchase some attire more appropriate to the occasion. After making a few choice purchases of the area's offering as high couture, Buffy and Xander drove into the campgrounds shaded by live oaks that was set back off a little road near the Llano river. After checking in with the Murchisons, Xander was brandishing a key as he came trotting back to the car. They drove up a dirt road through the river bottoms and up a small hill to where the cabins were located. The cabin which had a great view of the river and the campsites below was a small two bedroom house with a large picture window. It was a simple structure that had been built around the second world war which had a large covered front porch to watch sunsets. The inside was covered with wood paneling that had turned orange with age which had base furnishings which appeared to be from the same era. The clean but worn and scratched linoleum ran throughout the house. To her exhausted and red eyes, Buffy had never seen anything more beautiful as she fell through the door.

Once inside the cabin, Buffy chose a bedroom and entombed herself in the bathroom for well over an hour. When she finally emerged, she was wearing a sky blue tank top with a short breezy patterned skirt and a pair of simple ballet style flats. She held a comb in her hand as she was still combing out her wet hair as she looked to see that she was currently alone in the cabin. She felt a million times more better now that she had shed that aroma of oil and oranges off her person. Walking past the kitchen table where Xander had spread open bags of potato chips and the powdered donuts, she grabbed a donut as she picked up her phone from her purse. Returning, she flung herself into the worn vinyl breakfast chair by the table as she began to dial the rental company about her car.

Xander walked into the cabin as Buffy had hung up the phone. He had been down at the river bottoms helping the folk from Delbrock set up their campsites. While she was in the shower, he had been watching the group from Delbrock arrive at the campsites on the river bottom from the cabin's window, as they set up their campsites with campers and tents. His eyes brightened when a certain pickup pulling an older fold out camper drove up. Xander watched Anya and Clay get out of the pickup and unhitched the camper under some trees and decided to see if they needed any assistance. By the time, he had returned to the cabin, he had the lowdown on the evening's activities.

"Hey, I see you're out! You look a lot better. " Xander said as he laid eyes on Buffy. "I thought I may have to get the jaws of life to get you out of there if you stayed in any longer.

"Ha, ha." Buffy said, giving Xander a look about the poor joke. "So, where were you?"

"Oh, I just went down to see if I could help anyone set up their camp." Xander said nonchalantly as he picked up a chip and popped it into his mouth.

"Really - anyone? When did you start doing such good works?" Buffy asked as she cocked her head

"Yeah, I saw Anya and her brother drive up, so I went to see if they could use any help." Xander said proudly. "I also found out what the plan is for this evening."

"Wow, Anya has a brother. That's going to take some getting use to." Buffy said shaking her head, then looked up expectantly. "So, what d'ya find out?"

"It seems that everyone was going to go to a small bar where some of the boys from Delbrock were playing in the band tonight." He said and winked at Buffy. Then in his best good old boy accent, he added "I guess we're going honky- tonkying tonight, dearheart!"

…

It was a tiny storefront that had been turned into a bar. It was a narrow rectangular room with a long saloon bar on one side and a small stage for the band on the far end. There was a small dance floor just in front of the stage which was filled with dancing couples. The bar itself was lit with strategically placed spotlights, so there was an air of intimacy in the dark areas and drama in the brightly lit. It was a pretty popular Friday night, so the bar was jumping. As Buffy and Xander came through the door, they were struck by the Texas swing that seemed to roll over the occupants like surging waves. As they made their way over to an empty table, Xander and Buffy ran into the strawberry blonde who had been at the English Feed store.

"Hi! I see you're looking better." The pretty young woman said brightly. "I'm Ruby English, by the way. I saw you both at the store today."

"Hi. Thanks. I feel a million times better." Buffy answered, a little overwhelmed by the Ruby's exuberance. "My name is Buffy Summers. This is my friend, Xander Harris."

"Xander…I remember that name. You won the cabin at the Church supper." Ruby said, then with a devilish grin, she added. "So, how did you get so lucky?"

"Me? Lucky?" Xander answered a little bashfully. "I don't think that term is usually associated with me."

"Maybe, I can change that." Ruby added with a wisdom beyond her years.

Xander's eyes widened, since it had been a long time since any woman, especially one as pretty as Ruby had made advances toward him. He stood there in a frozen state of shock before he could remember how to talk. Buffy's mouth clamped down into a tense smile to hide her amusement, as she watched Xander's reaction to Ruby. In effort to diffuse Xander's embarrassment, Buffy sent Xander to get some beers. Turning around, she smiled at Ruby as she wanted a little time to feel out what the family's reaction had been to her little tragic comedy production from that afternoon.

"So, you're part of the family that owns the Feed store. Anybody else here?" Buffy said in her most artfully contrived casual voice. Praying that she didn't betray her anxiousness to see Spike again.

"Oh, yeah. I'm the youngest of the lot." Ruby said as she pointed to the stage. "The rest of my sibs are up on the stage playing. See em up there? Up front, of course is Russell, he sings and is on lead guitar. Beside him is my older sister, Maureen. She also sings and plays the fiddle. If you look hard, Bill is hanging out in the back playing the bass with RJ who is on the drums."

Just as Xander returned with the beers, the band decided to take a break. Buffy watched Spike descend off the stage and disappear into the crowd. With her beer in her hand, she tilted her head slowly as her eyes canvassed the barroom, looking for any sign of Spike to appear. She took a moment from her search to take a sip of beer.

"Well, I think I want to check to see if Clay and Anya made it." Xander said, anxious to locate Anya. "You two be okay while I go check?"

"Sure. Go, we'll be fine." Buffy said, waving him away.

A moment later after Xander left, the waves of people parted, and Buffy spied Spike leaning against the bar. Before she could come up with sane sounding reason to go see him, Ruby grabbed her arm.

"Hey! There's Bill. Let's go see him!" Ruby said as she began to drag Buffy through the bar's crowd.

As the two made their way through the mass of people, a sexy dark haired beauty who resembled Eva Mendes sidled up to Spike. You could see from her body language that she was very interested in Spike. She tossed her luscious locks and looked over at him with a come hither expression. Spike seemed disinterested, but politely responded to the woman's conversation as he sipped his beer. Buffy's eyes narrowed as she concentrated on the seductive glances the woman was giving Spike. She knew instantly that she and this woman would never be 'besties'.

"Oh Sweet Jesus! Serena's here. She thinks' Bill is her own personal property." Ruby stated with annoyance. "That's Serena Reinhammer. Her daddy owns all the Reinhammer dealerships in the hill country. What a nutter. Let's go rescue him!"

As they approached the pair at the bar, Ruby leaned forward and laid her hand on Spike's shoulder.

"Hey, Big Bro! You sounded pretty good up there. Look who I brought you!" Ruby announced as she stood back to watch the interplay between Spike and Buffy. She also cast a few side long looks to watch the disgruntled expression on Serena's face to her amusement.

"Hey, lit'l treasure." Spike said as he turned around. His eyes brightened when he saw Buffy standing there. "Hi. It's good to see you again."

"Yeah. I wanted to come over and thank you again. You were really sweet and I appreciate it." Buffy said shyly. She smiled warmly as she looked into those blue eyes.

"Tell you what. You can thank me with a dance." Spike said as he held out his hand to her.

Suddenly blushing, Buffy looked down as she put her hand in his upraised one. A tingle went up her spine as she felt Spike's fingers close around her hand.


	9. Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 9

Holding Buffy's hand, Spike ambled out to the dance floor as a romantic song the DJ was playing was ending. The next song started slow with just a guitar and a man's melodic voice. Spike turned around once he was a few feet from the edge of the dance floor. He stood still and held up his other arm as he continued to hold her right hand in his. Buffy came forward with a bashful smile as she placed her left hand on his shoulder. Spike pulled her to him as he began to move forward in the slow-slow-quick-quick rhythm of the Two-step. Buffy blushed as she looked up into his face.

The beat began to pick up when the chorus of the song began and Spike extended his stride with the first line of the chorus to time with song. He leaned back pulled Buffy forward. Garth Brooks' song of Friends in Low Places seemed to be a favorite as the dance floor quickly filled up. There was a rolling of their bodies together as Spike's familiar strut was in perfect keeping with the twanging rhythm of the song. Buffy was thrilled to recognize that move in his dancing. Buffy's smile gave way to a slight chuckle as she looked into his eyes. Suddenly, Spike pulled her hand he was holding into his chest as he leaned forward and began to dance Buffy in small circles as they moved along with the other dancers on the floor. Buffy moved closer so she wrap her arm around Spike's bicep, so her arm came up his back and her hand was turned around on his shoulder. The rocking of their bodies brought her breast in contact with his chest, something she did not find unpleasant. They continued to dance until the song ended when Spike spun them around with a big flourish. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck as she laughed as they spun together.

There was a moment of silence between songs as Buffy and Spike broke apart. Spike looked down briefly before looking at Buffy. It was something he used to do in Sunnydale, which always endeared him to her.

"Thank you for the dance." Spike said as he put up his arm to shepherd her off the dance floor.

Spike guided her over to where Ruby was standing. Ruby was not shy about hiding her smile as she looked at the pair. They stopped at the edge of the dance floor. Buffy turned around and looked at him expectantly.

"I really enjoyed it. You're really a good dancer." Buffy said with her chin tilted down as she looked up at him through her lashes. She held her arms straight down in front of her, grasping her hands as she reveled in her joy that bubbled within her.

"Yeah, well. You did pretty well yourself. Uh, look I gotta get back up on the stage since the break almost over…Uh, you going to be around this weekend?" Spike asked, with genuineness in his voice.

"That's the plan." Buffy responded as she tried to underplay the eagerness that even she didn't know she possessed.

"Good. I hope to see you around then." Spike said. Buffy could see a little blush color his tanned face. Spike took a little step back with a sappy grin on his face. Blinking, Spike suddenly became aware of how awkward he must appear. He quickly spun on his heel and shuffled ungainly around the dance floor to go back to the stage.

With the amusement evident in her eyes, Ruby leaned forward and whispered in Buffy's ear.

"That's funny." Looking away from watching Spike making his way to the stage, Ruby cocked her head to regard the woman who seemed to set her always steady older brother on his ear.

"What is?" Buffy asked, not taking her eyes off Spike as he finally reached the stage.

"I know my brother. Hardly anything ever ruffles him." Ruby commented confidentially. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone make him blush like that."

Buffy turned with a smile and cast her eyes at the ceiling for a moment to acknowledge the achievement. She saw Xander standing at a table with Clay and Anya, doing his best to ingratiate himself to the pair. She pointed out to group to Ruby as she nodded her head. She and Ruby slowly approached the group.

"Hey!" Buffy said as she came alongside Xander, bumping him playfully on the arm. Ruby sidled up to the table alongside Buffy. Buffy stared for a moment at Anya before remembering to nod a hello to this new stranger in front of her.

"Hey, yourself. Having a good time?" Xander answered, looking at his friend's flushed face.

"Quite momentous. You?" Buffy commented, shifting her eyes toward Anya for a second.

"Getting there." Xander responded. Suddenly becoming aware that Anya would not recognize Buffy, Xander stood up a little straighter. "Oh, let me introduce you. This is my old friend, Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is Annalee Sorensen and her brother, Clay Hartwell. Annalee has that truck I am so interested in."

"Oh..Hi, nice to me you." Anya smiled at Buffy as she waved across the table. There was no recognition in her face.

"Pleasure." Clay added after swallowing a mouthful of beer and putting down his longneck.

"Hi." Buffy responded. "Wow, this is some little place you guys have here."

"It's nothing special. You two don't sound like you're from Texas. So, where ya'll from?" Clay asked, picking up his longneck again.

"Uh..California, but don't hold that against us. We got here as quick as we could." Xander joked with a smooth smile aimed right at Anya. The Texans at the table snickered at the small joke and looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"Normally, we would run you out of town…but in your case, I'll make an exception" Clay pronounced on the visitors' presence. Chuckling, Anya rolled her eyes at her brother's humor.

"Buffy, I hope you're coming with us on the tubing trip tomorrow?" Anya asked with a friendly smile.

"Sure. It sounds like fun." Buffy said, nodding back at Anya.

"Oh, no!" Ruby grumpily uttered. She had been looking out at the crowd and had seen Serena moving toward their little group. Ruby turned her back, hoping Serena would just pass by. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side tonight.

"Hi, everybody!" Serena inserted her way into the group at the table. As she reached the table, she stood straight with her shoulders back, so her ample bosom trapped in the halter top caught the attention of both males at the table.

A number of "Hi's" floated back across the table to Serena from the group. Ruby looked away from the dark haired woman standing next to her. Moving up her hand to cover her face from Serena, she made an expression of disgust for an instant to Buffy before turning back to the group. Buffy with a smile in her eyes for Ruby, looked around at Serena with an innocent expression on her face.

"Let's see. Who don't I know here?" Serena said as she made a pretense of looking around the table, and finally fixing her eyes on Buffy and Xander.

"Xander, Buffy, this is Serena Reinhammer." Anya spoke up with a maturity that Xander and Buffy had never witnessed before. "Serena, this is Xander Harris and Buffy..Summers. Is that right?"

Xander nodded and raised his beer as he said a small "Hi."

"Yes, that's right. Hi, nice to meet you, Serena." Buffy said with a tight smile, as she measured the sexy competition for Spike in front of her.

"Hi. Well, aren't you cute? I'm sure the other girls in the area are going to have to bring their game, if they want any attention from the male population around here, now that you're in town." Serena said, with an overly sweet sentiment and a smile on her face that Buffy found immensely irritating.

Although, nothing slighting was said emphatically, Buffy somehow felt insulted by what Serena's comment. 'Well, two can play that game' Buffy thought.

"Oh, I wouldn't think you would have anything to worry about. A man would be crazy to refuse such a pretty girl like you." Buffy responded in kind to Serena.

The girls stood in silence with sweet smiles aimed at each other, but their eyes were telling a different story. Xander began to feel uncomfortable, as he began to fidget due to the tension between the two women.

"Please, somebody tell a joke!" He pleaded to the group with a dramatic hand to his chest.

The rest of the group began to chuckle which broke the impasse as Ruby nudged Buffy. Ruby inserted her head in Buffy's line of sight of Serena. Ruby wrinkled her face and rolled her eyes which brought a real smile to Buffy's face.

"So, RJ told me that ya'll are going tubin tomorrow. He's invited me to come along. I'm really looking forward to it." Serena spoke up as she turned her head to address Anya and Clay.

"Yeah, it should be a lotta fun." Anya answered in a calm measured tone.

"I love this song!" Serena said suddenly, turning toward Clay. She gave him a direct look which spoke volumes. Ruby wrinkled her face at the ploy being played out beside her.

"Well, let's dance." Clay said with a bit of resignation in his tone. He placed his longneck on the table and held out his hand to Serena. The rest of the group watched the pair make their way toward the dance floor.

"Hmm. No one's asked me to dance for a while." Ruby grumbled as she leaned over to look pointedly at Xander.

"Oh. Uh." Xander said as if he was suddenly caught in headlights. "I would love to, but I don't know how to do that kind of dancing…"

"Well, you're in luck! I just happen to be an excellent teacher of the Texas Two-step." Ruby announced as she made her way around Buffy to claim Xander. "Come on, your lesson is about to start!"

Xander raised his eyebrows, set down his beer with a smirk as he got caught up in Ruby's enthusiasm. He turned and soon found that Ruby had a hold of his hand.

"Will you excuse me?" Xander said to the two women at the table.

"Sure." Buffy said, thoroughly entertained by the antics of the pair.

Anya and Buffy smiled at each other as they watched Ruby and Xander begin to tackle the Two-step out on the dance floor.

"He doesn't stand a chance." A bemused Anya confided as she leaned over to a surprised Buffy.


	10. Chapter 10

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 10

It was early the next morning, as the bright light from the morning sun illuminated the living room of the cabin. Dressed in a simple t-shirt and demin shorts, Buffy slipped out of her bedroom, turning to gently close the bedroom door behind her. She tiptoed toward the living room as the almost Teutonic like rumbling snores from Xander's room floated under the bottom of his door. She knew that he was still sleeping off last night's escapade into small town Texas nightlife. She stopped momentarily to slip on the new flip flops, she had purchased yesterday. Stretching, she rubbed the back of her head as she yawned as she walked out on the wooden porch of the cabin.

The sun was still low in the sky and caught on the ripples of the river flowing by. It sent bright fragmented flashes of light up into her face. She covered her eyes to look out at the landscape before her. The early light from the glaring sun had lit up the tan dried ends of vegetation so that they seemed to achieve a sandy glow as a mockingbird would flit amongst them while singing its morning song. She had planned on sitting on the front porch to reminisce over last evenings events, but she was surprised to see the activity going on at the river banks. It seemed that some of the Texans had gotten up early and were already milling about.

Giving herself a brief check and smoothing her hair behind her ears, she began to make her way down the hillside toward the river.

"Good morning." She called out to two women who were walking toward her along the river bank. One was Anya who looked bright and chipper and smiled at Buffy as she saw her approach. The other was a bedraggled looking Ruby, who seemed to be sluggishly putting one foot in front of another.

"Good morning. I see you're up early." Anya replied with a bright smile on her face as she and a dazed looking Ruby stopped to regard Buffy.

"Yeah, well I didn't want to miss anything." Buffy smiled as she shrugged. "What's going on?"

"Well, we're just waiting for everyone to appear. I am afraid I dragged Ruby out of bed early." Anya stopped and placed her hands in the back pockets of her shorts.

"Mornin. Good Lord, it's early!" A rather subdued Ruby muttered as she rubbed the sleep out of her eye and yawned. "Some kind of friends I got."

"I warned you that I don't sleep in anymore when you mentioned sharing a tent." Anya said as she shook her head about how seriously Ruby took her warning.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you were serious. I mean who gets up before seven AM on a weekend?" Ruby replied, raising her hand in exasperation.

"Someone who lives with a small child in the house. I would love to sleep late. I remember there were times that I used sleep till almost noon. Now, I wake to the sounds of cartoons and by a little girl's demands for breakfast. Now, if I don't hear it, my internal alarms go off." Anya stated as slightly shrugged her shoulders. She then turned to Buffy. "What are you doin up so early?"

"Oh, well. I guess I am just an early riser as well. Xander was still sleeping, so I snuck out of the cabin so I wouldn't wake him." Buffy confided in the two women.

"Buffy, please share your skills with Annalee on how to sneak out and let your friends sleep in." Ruby almost whined as she shifted to Buffy's side and looked pointedly at Anya. "Now that you two kindred spirits have found each other, I am going back to bed."

"Okay. Go. I am surprised you any energy for such drama so early in the morning." Anya commented, tilting her head at her friend who clumsily turned to leave.

Buffy and Anya watched Ruby stagger off back to the tent to get some sleep. They smiled at each other when Ruby held her arms up in front of her blindly grasping for the tent flap before she finally found it. Buffy then turned to Anya.

"So, what do we do for breakfast around here?" Buffy asked.

….

Seeing no one else about, Buffy invited Anya back to the cabin. Buffy was lucky enough to discover a stash of coffee in a cupboard. With a little of Anya's help, okay with a lot of Anya's help, she was able to operate the stove top coffee pot. Before long, she and Anya were sitting on the edge of the front porch balancing a cup of coffee in their hands. In between them, the package of powdered donuts stood open. As the women sat there, they would occasionally pull a donut out of the package to daintily dip in their coffee before bringing it up to their mouths.

They began to talk as they looked out over the river. Buffy began to realize that this Anya was much more down to earth than the flighty ex-demon had been. There continued to be a complete air of honesty about this Anya or rather Annalee but it was tempered with concern and mothering nature. She was able to see that Anya in this incarnation was more content and confident. There was none of the grasping quality that she had previously sensed about Anya back in Sunnydale. Although she liked Anya, she had never really considered her a friend. Buffy had always categorized her as Xander's girlfriend rather than a true friend. As she sat there, next to Anya, she realized that maybe she had underestimated the ex-demon. She became aware that she could easily become friends with the woman sitting next to her. In fact, she knew that she already had.

The women had been sitting on the porch for a good hour when they heard the noise of the door opening. A groggy looking Xander with a bad case of bed hair stuck his head out from behind the door. His half cast eyes took in the women sitting on the porch.

"Is that coffee?" He asked in a gravelly voice as he blinked his eyes

"Yeah, it's on the stove." Buffy said as she smiled at Anya who was smirking at the spectacle of Xander in morning.

"Hmm." Xander mumbled as he pulled his head and haphazardly turned to go into the kitchen.

Just then a large black and gold pick-up truck rumbled into the campsite. Anya stood up and placed her coffee mug on the edge of the porch.

"Oops. Look who's here already. I better go down and meet them. Holly is better than an alarm clock." Anya said as she took a few steps away from the porch to watch the pick-up.

"Who's Holly?" Buffy asked as she looked from Anya down to the truck.

"She's my little girl." Anya answered as she covered her eyes to peer down at the campsite.

"Oh! That's right. You said you were a mom. You have a little girl?" Buffy's eyes opened in shock as she tried to recover herself as she uttered. "Well, I'd love to meet her."

"You will. She and Micah are going tubin with us this afternoon." Anya replied without removing her eyes from the truck where a dark wavy haired man was releasing a little girl from a booster seat.

"Who's Micah?" Buffy asked, clearly stunned as she looked back and forth from the truck to Anya.

"Holly's father and my ex. This is his weekend with her." Anya smiled as she gave this interesting spec of information to Buffy. Anya began to move toward the path as she called back to Buffy. "I better get down there. See ya!"

About five minutes, Xander appeared in dressed, hair combed and a cup of coffee in his hands and much wider awake. His face fell when he saw that Anya was no longer on the porch.

"Good morning! Where's Anya?" He asked in a much chipper voice as he placed himself alongside Buffy on the porch.

Buffy lifted up her hand and pointed down at the scene taking place in the campsite. Anya was holding the hands of a little girl who was navigating walking on one of the railroad ties that surrounded the campfire area. The little girl stopped and bent her knees to make a tremendous leap off the tie to land on the ground beside Anya. Anya's hands carefully kept the little girl vertical as she landed to make sure she didn't fall. Anya laughed as the little girl's face turned up to her in triumph.

"Hey, Holly's here." Xander said as he brought the cup of coffee up to his lips for another swallow

"You know about her?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I met her the first night. She's a sweet little girl." Xander answered, knowingly.

"She and Anya's ex are going tubin with us." Buffy commented and wondered. "You okay with that?"

"Sure. It's plenty okay." Xander responded, with a hard won maturity that the past events had blessed him with.

"Wow. You have really changed." Buffy remarked. Looking off in the distance, she added. "I used to know a Xander who didn't like any curveballs thrown at him."

"What can I say? I've grown up." Xander announced with a deprecating shrug.

"Yeah. Haven't we all?" Buffy said as she leaned over to him with a small smile.

…..

It was late morning when everyone gathered in the campsite after having woken and having breakfast. Buffy made her way over to Ruby who she saw congenially talking to a large burly man.

"I see you're now part of the living again." Buffy commented as she approached the blonde woman who was laughing with the large man.

"Yeah, I am not my best with less than five hours sleep." Ruby smiled as she turned to greet Buffy. "Buffy, have you met RJ? Buffy, this is RJ. He and Bill have been a pair of good old boys together since forever." Ruby said as she good naturedly patted RJ on the back of his shoulder. "RJ, this is Buffy."

"Hi, nice to meet ya." RJ ducked his head as held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Buffy answered with a smile as she took his oversized hand.

"I think I saw you last night at club. You were dancing with Bill." RJ said as he gave her hand a small shake along with a wide smile.

"Yeah, I did dance with Bill." Buffy replied, a small blush appearing on her cheeks as she pulled back her hand and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"He's a pretty good dancer, isn't he?" RJ vocally surmised as his eyes went to Ruby. "Or so I'm told."

"I don't have any complaints." Buffy responded feeling her cheeks getting hotter under the affable scrutiny of RJ and Ruby.

Luckily for Buffy, the interrogation was timely interrupted by the arrival of Anya along with her little girl. Anya stopped in front of the group and brought the little girl in front of her, holding the child's hands in each of hers.

"Hi, Buffy. I want you to meet my little girl. This is Holly." Anya said as she smiled down at the little girl twisting between her arms. "Holly, this is Buffy. Say Hello."

"Hello." The little girl parroted as she looked up at Buffy, but never stopped twisting. "You're pretty."

"Why, thank you." Buffy responded, laughing. "So, are you. I hear you're going to go tubin with us today. Have you been before?"

The little girl nodded vigorously.

"Well, I have never been. Is it okay if you can maybe help me later?" Buffy asked as she leaned down to the little girl's level.

Holly looked up at her mother questioningly. Anya smiled and nodded, assuring the little girl that it was okay. Holly looked back over at Buffy and nodded emphatically. Anya chuckled as she knew that Buffy had already made a friend out of Holly. As Anya looked up, she caught Ruby's eye and after their long conversation in the tent last night, she knew what she had to do.

"So, Bill couldn't make it. Huh?" Anya asked. All eyes of the adults flew to Buffy's face to see her reaction. Buffy could not stop the disappoint from flashing across her face.

"He had to take Maureen back home this morning. Her fiancée had leave and they're supposed to go cake tasting today in Fredericksburg." Ruby sighed. "You know Bill, he's going to stop by and see if the folks have any problems with the store."

"Oh, does that mean he's not coming back?" Buffy tried her best to sound casual as her heart lodged in her throat.

"He'll be here for the cookout and the concert tonight." Ruby replied, her eyes going stealthily around to her old friends. She added with a smile in her eyes. "I don't think you could keep him away."


	11. Chapter 11

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I do not own them.

Synopsis: After Chosen, what if Anya and Spike were given a second chance, this time in Texas with new lives, new memories and new friends. What if Xander and Buffy find out and come to reclaim them, but discover that they're now the outsiders.

….

Chapter 11

Everyone was standing around chatting after the late breakfast when a pale yellow convertible came roaring up the dirt road, sending up a cloud of dust, scattering gravel as it came to a halt.

"Hi, everyone!"

Serena's slightly nasal tone called out as she leaned back against the white leather seat. Her face split into a megawatt smile as she pushed back her large sunglasses up to the top of her head. The sunglasses pushed back her flowing waves of dark hair with expensive highlights to cascade down her back. Everyone froze with the exception of RJ. He was drawn over to the side of her car as he walked with the sprightliness not normally seen in men his size. Ruby's mouth settled into distaste as her eyes followed RJ progress until he was breathlessly leaning over the side of the convertible. He looked absolutely thrilled that Serena had appeared as he basked in her gloriousness. With a small laugh, Serena basked in the admiration as she knew full well that she had achieved the attracting the attention of everyone in the group as she pulled the latch on her car door. RJ dutifully pulled it back as she stretched out her long brown legs to stand and twirled about to reach over to grab her bag and towel.

"Watch this..It won't be more than a minute before she asks about Bill." Ruby mumbled to Buffy as she turned her body lightly away on her toes. "She's about subtle as a hungry bobcat. Watch her face."

"Ruby…Come on, now" Anya gently warned as she tilted her head at the young woman who was so protective of her brother.

"Well, look at her. All pearly teeth and shiny nails, stretching out against her car…Lord, I want get her a scratching post."

Serena leaned against the car as she showered RJ with her attention. A moment later, she casually turned her head to regard the crowd. Sure enough, in the next instant, the sparkling joy dropped off Serena's face like rainwater when she was told Bill was not there. She looked down to straighten her bikini top before looking with a slightly diminished smile, and a shrug of her shoulders. She proceeded to wrap her arms around RJ's bicep as she simpered up into his face.

"Poor little mouse." Ruby uttered as she stared at the big man's happy yet awkward response to Serena's glamorous onslaught of attention.

"Yeah, he's suffering." Anya commented deadpan with a wink at Buffy.

A local rafting company soon stopped by to pick up the group from the campground and ferry them out to a low water crossing about three and half miles up the river. On the way to the river, a constant stream narration and questions from Holly about tubing could be heard as she sat in her seat next to Anya. The little girl's voice carried through the van as she told Anya about how much she liked tubing, how much the caravan was squeaking and bouncing and wanting to know when they were going to get there. Buffy felt a blush on her cheeks as she heard Holly emphatically tell Anya that Buffy had not gone tubing before and she was going to show her. It seemed that she had become a special project for the little girl. Anya's voice patiently responded and encouraged the little girl to prattle on as she caught Buffy's eye with a sly smile.

Everyone was glad when the rather chaotic ride in the caravan came to end when it pulled up to a cleared area by the river bottoms. Sitting beside the river, was an industrial type truck with a metal cage on the back that was filled with the inflated black inner tubes. Once the van had pulled to a stop, everyone had piled out of the caravan onto the pale river rocks that comprised the parking area blazed white heat up into the air in the unforgiving Texas sun. Buffy could feel the heat of the stones seep through the bottom of her thin soled inexpensive sneakers she had bought at the grocery store. Everyone gravitated toward the back of the van where the coolers, towels and sun screen were stored. There was a cacophony of voices and motion as people grabbed their sunscreen and began slathering themselves and others. RJ and Xander pulled out the coolers out of the back of the van and placed them on the ground while Russell and Micah went over to the truck and started handing down the inner tubes.

Turning from the back of the van, Xander's eye caught brief flurry of motion as Holly took off for the river with Anya in close pursuit. Suddenly Ruby appeared in front of him, asking him to cover her back with the sunscreen that she waggled between her fingers. He found himself smiling at the pretty strawberry blonde and gallantly took the bottle of sunscreen from her hand. As he was smoothing the cream down from Ruby's shoulder onto her shoulder blades, he saw Anya pulling a stormy looking Holly back toward the van. Holly's feet stamped in the dust cover rocks, sending up little puffs of dust as she trudged along at the end of her mother's hand. Once there, Anya sat down on the edge of the van's floor and bent down to smear a thick coating of sunscreen across Holly's face. Her face frozen in a not quite successful stoic expression, Holly stood there with arms stiff by her side as her mother methodically coated her in the sticky substance. Micah walked up with Holly's floaties in his hand. It appeared that between the two adults, the little girl seemed well in hand before she even got near the water.

Russell and RJ took a couple of the inner tubes down the river where they secured the coolers. Ruby corralled Xander and Buffy over to the truck where they picked up their inner tubes. They slung them over their shoulders as they navigated the short slope down to the low water crossing. The water was a dark blue with ripples from the current visible in the shade from the overhanging pecan trees. Buffy made a sound of shock when he placed her foot in which made Xander laugh since he was still yet to enter the river. Buffy reached over and gave him a sharp tug which made him stumble a few steps into the river with a yell about the temperature. Ruby told them that they would get water soon enough, that it was only the heat that made it so bracing. Many of the group had waded into low water area with their gigantic black inner tubes by now when Buffy turned back to the slope. Serena stopped at the top of the slope and called for RJ to help her down the slope. RJ bounded up the slope to assist while Ruby turned her back and rolled her eyes.

Finally, the last stragglers of the group approached the river. Anya and Micah walked down to the river's edge, each holding one of Holly's hands. Holly was now bedecked out in her floaties and tiny red sunglasses as she approached the river between her parents. Micah was balancing his large black inner tube and Holly's smaller yellow inner tube over his shoulder and upper arm as he leaned over to keep hold of the little girl's hand to keep her from falling down the small slope.

Once on the riverside, Anya and Holly waded into the river a few feet while Micah attached Holly's small inner tube to her mother's by a short cord that he wrapped around both. Micah held the inner tube for Anya as she ungracefully as it skidded along the surface of the river a few feet with the momentum of falling into it. He then picked up Holly and placed the kicking and delighted little girl in her small yellow inner tube. Anya reached over to wrap her hand around Holly's tube to keep her near.

"Come on, Daddy!" Holly demanded with all her little girl possessiveness when she turned around to see her father standing there. "The river's getting away!"

Micah hopped to please the demands of his little girl as he turned to fall into his own inner tube. Once everyone saw that the little family was now ready to embark, the remaining people who were still standing, quickly climbed in their tubes. The group set off. The group started their slow progression on the river. It was slow going at first as everyone was still bunched together. As they progressed, the group began to spread out slightly.

Buffy, Xander and Ruby were at the back of the group near Anya, Micah and Holly. Ruby had been kicking water at Xander every time he was not looking. Ruby was obviously enjoying her little game until Xander caught her at it. It soon turned into a full on splash war between the two of them. Eager to stay out of the splash zone, Buffy drifted back farther toward Anya and her little girl. Buffy leaned over in her tube toward Holly.

"Wow! I like your sunglasses, Holly! You look so good in them." Buffy complimented the little girl who looked so stylish in her yellow inner tube and heart shaped sunglasses.

"I know." Holly responded non-chalantly.

"Our modest child." Anya commented as she smiled over at Micah who was bringing up the rear.

"Hi. I don't think we've met." Buffy leaned out and waved. "I'm Buffy."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Micah." The man nodded his head that reminded Buffy of manners of bygone days.

"That's MY daddy!" Holly joined in to clarify her ownership of the handsome wavy haired man in the inner tube.

"Yes, I only exist to serve my princess." Micah smiled at the little girl who nodded at Buffy and seemed to thoroughly believe the statement to be fact.

"You're a very lucky little girl to have a daddy like that, Holly."

"Uh huh." Holly uttered and then turned around to address Micah. She announced imperiously. "Daddy, I want to ride with you in your inner tube!"

Micah rowed forward with his arms and soon had Holly transferred from her inner tube and onto his. Holly ended up sitting on his stomach where she appeared to be holding court as she leaned back against the wall of the inner tube.

The river lazily cut through the harsh Texas landscape. From the river, there appeared to be sections of the of the countryside that looked like deep green groves and other sections where rocks jut up so dramatically it looked like an earthquake had just happened. And like the changing scenery, the river also varied. There were areas of slow deep water but there were also sections that were punctuated with faster moving shallow water. With the child with them, Buffy accompanied Micah and Anya around the alternative slow water routes, so none of their quartet got unexpectedly dumped out into the water.

Buffy could see Xander and Ruby were having a great time up ahead, going through the small bunches of river rapids on the opposite side of the river. She laughed as Xander was ungainly toppled out of his inner tube at the end of one of the rushing water sections. With almost walrus like grace, Xander surfaced sputtering and floundering about as he grabbed for his inner tube. Ruefully smiling while Ruby teased him, he awkardly climbed back into his tube to her obvious amusement.

Buffy looked back at Anya to see if she had seen Xander and Ruby. Micah had floated forward to be even with Anya, his inner tube had rotated so he drifted backwards. Holly was now on her stomach, draped across her father as she was intently dipping her hands into the slow cool water. The little girl was busily dancing her fingers in the river, making small droplets fling into the air in crescendo. Watching the water droplets catch the light, something else caught Buffy's eye. She noticed Anya and Micah were holding hands just under the water level as they looked meaningfully at each other. Buffy quickly looked over at Xander, wondering if she should say something to him. From Buffy's perspective, it looked like Anya and Micah were not over. Not over by a long shot, she thought.

A little bit before four, the group had reached the pick-up point by the river rafting company. Everyone stood up in the shallows and walked with their inner tube out of the river. After climbing out of the cool water of the Llano river by balancing her soaked sneakers on the water worn stones, Buffy stood on the river bank watching the interaction between Xander and Ruby. She realized that all afternoon had passed and Xander had not spent one second of it with Anya. Looking at him, he really didn't seem too miserable about it, she thought as he and Ruby were smiling crazily at each other.

Later, as the group bounced down the road on the bouncing and sternly padded seats of the caravan of the tubing purveyor, Buffy relaxed against the back of her seat. She had enjoyed herself on the tubing trip as she felt her cool damp swimsuit between her and warmth of the vinyl seat. She was tired but not exhausted. She could not keep her excitement totally penned up about the plans for that evening. She was already thinking about a battle plan for tonight: what she would wear, her hair, which perfume, what she would say…Tonight, the group was having a cookout before going to the music concert. Best of all, Spike was going to be there.


	12. Chapter 12

Wading the Waters at Senna Rock

By Nickeltaffy

….

Chapter Twelve

As the van headed down the hill that led into the camping area, everyone braced themselves in their seats to keep from being pitched forward. The van bounced and pulled around in a circular pattern to let out the occupants in the camping area, the tires making a crunching sound on the sun bleached gravel. Inside the van, Buffy ducked her head slightly to peer out the windows, hopefully looking for one person in particular. She could see a slightly beat up truck with a faded finish that hadn't been there before. She bit her lower lip as she tried to rein in her excitement at the prospect of the truck possibly being Spike's. Her eyes darted back and forth looking for a sign of him.

Ruby was sitting across from Buffy, bouncing as the tubing purveyor's transport lurched to a stop, causing her to break from her playful exchange with Xander. With her back pressed against the side of the van, she braced herself to avoid sliding off the stiff vinyl seat due to the van's sudden change in momentum. As the dust the van had kicked up slowly dissipated, she glanced out the windows across from Buffy. Doing so, her eyes landed on Buffy's posture noting the blonde woman's attention was centered on the surroundings outside the van. A grin danced across her face as she could guess what….no, who, had piqued Buffy's interest.

The side doors of the van opened and everyone started to pile out and mill around the van, collecting their possessions before dispersing into the campsite. Buffy walked bent over from the seat as she waited for a break in the traffic. She held on the frame of the door as she stood on the edge of the van to use it as a vantage point to scan the campsite. She was momentarily frustrated that she could not locate Spike. She spotted motion on the far side of the truck. She held her breath as she waited for the figure to clear the image of the truck. The figure was walking toward the end of the truck, almost into her field of vision. Just as she was about to lay her eyes on the person, she felt something brush against her back.

"Uh, Buffy? Something wrong?" Xander said as she felt his shoulder press against her back, as he tried to exit the van. She sheepishly peered back over her shoulder to see Xander and Ruby waiting on her to move, she blushed as she hurriedly looked back to the ground to step down.

"Oh, no. Nothing." She uttered with a hurried breath as she stepped down from the van. She quickly took a few steps away from the van to look over at the truck. Who had ever been on the other side of the truck had disappeared. Dispelling her disappointment with a sigh, she turned back to smile at Xander and Ruby as they exited the van.

Ruby jumped down from the van and landed a few feet away from Buffy as her feet sent up a small puffs of white dust.

"Hmm, I don't see Bill's truck. It looks like he hasn't made it back yet, if anybody is interested." Ruby said with a terrible attempt at nonchalance.

"Oh, really? I didn't notice." Buffy replied, looking away as she stretched her back, not daring to look at Ruby's knowing eyes.

"Yeah, of course, you didn't." Ruby replied, the lighthearted sarcasm clearly evident in her tone.

Buffy stepped away from the van's doorway with a sullen expression as her eyes once again swept the parking area for a particular person. With a heavy sigh, she schooled her expression on her face to a carefully composed indifference about the absence of a certain someone as she turned to watch the others disembark from the van.

Xander quickly swung down from the van, and walked over to the two women. The pretty Texan stood in front of the two friends with a broad smile.

"We're going to have crawfish boil before we leave for the concert tonight. We've got another hour before it will be ready, if ya'll want to clean up." Ruby stated pointing her thumb over to an area where two large pots were situated over two open air flame burners. "I'll meet you back here, okay?"

Feeling the grit of the sand settling in their suits, Xander and Buffy agreed to meet with the energetic blonde. As the two made their way back up the hill to the cabin, Buffy kept throwing longing glances over her shoulder, hoping to see a truck pull into the campground.

….

Forty minutes later, Xander was sitting out on the porch in a weathered Adirondack chair in a fresh short sleeve linen shirt and jeans, waiting for Buffy to complete her glamorization process. He leaned back in the chair, as he watched the people scurry around the picnic tables, he noticed Ruby, Anya and Holly appear in the middle of the preparations. Looking over at the door of the cabin, he judged that Buffy would not be making an appearance soon due to prior experience. Seeing an opportunity, he stood up and went over to the cabin's door. On his way to the kitchen, he announced that he was going to be taking the beer down to the cookout to the bathroom door. He opened the refrigerator and pulled three twelve packs of beer from it when he heard a responding yell that she would meet him down there. He set the yell from the bathroom told him okay. He turned to see that stood up and carefully made his way down the hill.

Anya had changed into a simple sleeveless pale blue blouse and pale flowered denim capris. Xander thought that the Anya he had known would have worn something much more stylish, but this woman before him seemed to be at peace with herself and the current fashions were simply not an interest. She and Ruby were setting out the butcher paper on tables in preparation for the upcoming crawfish feast. Holly was swinging two rolls of paper towels in each hand as she dashed back and forth among the tables.

"Hello, Ladies." Xander announced as he approached the tables. Anya and Ruby paused in the midst of preparing the tables and smiled at him. "Where should I put these?"

"Just put in those coolers under that tree over there." Anya replied as she turned to pick up the roll of butcher paper, but finding Holly in her way.

After depositing the beer in the coolers, Xander was surprised to find Holly suddenly appearing in his path.

"Mr. Xander, you and me are supposed to pick flowers for my grandpa. Mama said he would like it because I'm staying the night at his house." Holly commanded as she grabbed his hand to lead him over to an area of wild grass not far from the tables.

Xander looked up to see a grateful smile from Anya as she gave him a little nod, telling him that she would appreciate his help keeping Holly distracted and out of the way. Bending at the waist, Xander stuck out his lower lip as he made a big show of contemplating Holly's offer and the addressed the little girl with enthusiasm. "That sounds like fun, but you're going to have to show me how. I don't know Texas flowers."

A minute later, Holly was busy picking up the pink primroses and Mexican hat flowers that appeared in the wild grass that grew a short distance away from the tables. For the next five minutes, Holly would greedily pull at the colorful wildflowers that were scattered in the long grass and run back to her so-called assistant to deposit a new blossom to the straggly handful that Xander was holding.

Xander soon found the small bouquet was quickly out growing out his hand as the number of flowers grew exponentially. He glanced over to see Anya and Ruby setting up the final table which brought a smile to his face.

"Hey. This is getting pretty big." Xander smiled as he held up his hand to examine the straggly bouquet in his hand as Holly handed him a few more. "Why don't we take them over to your Mom?"

Pausing after transferring her latest allotment of flowers, Holly looked up into Xander's face and asked. "You like her, don't you?"

Caught off guard, Xander uncomfortably cleared his throat before answering. "Yeah, um… your Mom is a nice lady."

"I know that." Holly nodded her head in agreement and continued her interview. "My Daddy thinks my Mama is really pretty. Do you think Ruby is nice?"

Feeling the subject change, Xander relaxed a little as he responded. "I think Ruby is very nice."

"Do you think she's pretty?" Holly rapidly asked another question, before Xander had time to draw a breath.

"Yes, I do." Xander responded instinctively without mulling over his answer.

"Good, cause you smile a lot when you're around her." Holly pronounced knowingly.

Xander paused for a moment as Holly's last statement sunk in. Just then, Buffy appeared in a pale pink sundress, her skin flush from her afternoon in the sun, breaking him out of his mood.

"Hey, Holly. Your mom says your grandpa is here." Buffy addressed the pair as she walked up.

"Grandpa!" Holly echoed joyously. She bounced on her toes as she informed the adults. "We're going to the drive in. He lets me eat Frito pie and tater tots!"

"Wow! That sounds like quite the evening!" Buffy answered with an impressed expression.

Holly nodded excitedly and spun around to go see her grandfather. She had only taken a few steps, when she remembered the flowers. She hurriedly rushed back to Xander.

"I forgot his flowers." She loudly announced as she held out her hand for the flowers.

Xander dutifully handed the flowers to the little girl. She stopped and pulled out a flower from the handful. She held it out to Xander. Puzzled, he picked the lone primrose from the small hand that was being held out to him.

"You should give that to her." The little girl stated, with a knowledge beyond her years.


	13. Chapter 13

Wading the Waters at Senna Rock

By Nickeltaffy

Chapter 13

Xander stood stunned with the pink wildflower hanging limply between his forefinger and thumb as Holly ran toward the picnic table area. Perplexed, he twirled the flower's stem in between his fingers as he stared after the Holly's quickly disappearing form. He wondered just who the oddly insightful little girl meant with her last statement. He was caught in his thoughts until Buffy caught his eye. With an embarrassed huff and a slight smirk, he walked through the knee high weeds toward his friend.

With a flourish, he stopped in front of Buffy and held out the wilting flower. "For you, my lady."

"Oooh, gallantry! Why, thank you, kind sir" Buffy spouted as her fingers plucked the quickly fading flower from her friend's hand.

"Yeah, well." Xander responded with a shrug of the shoulders. "Don't get used to it. I just happen to be in a mood, is all."

"Right, just like I believe that Holly meant for you to give me the flower." Buffy replied as she slid the flower into the hair tucked behind her ear. "Don't feel up to giving it to someone else?"

"I just don't want to rush things." Xander stated as he stared at the ground, a hand rubbing the back of his head in consternation. "Things are going so well right now… I don't want to appear obvious."

"Yes, I can see where the exchange of a mere blossom could complicate matters." Buffy stated, pursed her lips in mock consolation. "You've gotten so smooth in your old age."

"What can I…Hey, Buffy. Spike!" Xander stage whispered, pointing back to the group beyond Buffy.

"Where!" Buffy spun around to anxiously spy a certain someone. Not locating him, she slowly turned her head to glare at a smirking Xander. "Not funny."

"Oh, I don't know, I thought it was rather smooth, if I don't say so myself. Come on. The food is going to be ready soon." Xander said as he placed a hand on Buffy's back to accompany her back to the group.

They had only gone a few steps when a voice rang out: "Come and get it!" Within a few moments, the area became alive with people from their group. The sounds of good naturedly talking mixed with laughter while they grabbed drinks from the coolers under the trees and milled around the long table made up of two wooden picnic tables that had been drug together. Anya and Ruby had covered the tables with long strips of butcher paper with strategically placed rolls of paper towels nearby on the seats.

Clay came over from where two large dented and well-used aluminum pots were boiling over open flames. He held a large strainer basket filled with brilliantly red crawfish, glowing chucks of corn on the cob and shiny petite red potatoes. He carefully poured the contents of the basket in the center of a section of the table and returned to get more from the pots. As soon as Clay turned away, a few people began to slide onto the bench. Buffy and Xander stood by, taking in the spectacle of crawfish boil. Anya's brother made a return a trip with another basket of the boil and dumped it onto the second table. Ruby was stepping over the seat and saw the pair standing to the side.

"Come on. Don't stand on ceremony. These people aren't going to save anything for you if you don't dig in." She called with a wave of her arm, dispelling any cautiousness the newcomers had about approaching the table.

Xander and Buffy walked over to the table as some of the group had already taken places around the crawfish. Ruby looked expectantly at the spot next to her which Xander took. It also just happened to be across from Anya who was sitting next to Micah. Buffy took the open seat next to Xander which left her at the end of the table. She looked over the mound of crayfish and began casting a searching glance at the parking area for Spike. As they sat there, the other people around them began to pull and pick at the largesse of the crawfish before them.

Noticing that the Xander and Buffy had not started to pick up any of the food, Ruby leaned over to them.

"Have you not eaten mud bugs before?" Seeing the puzzled looks, Ruby laughed as she added. "That is just another name for crawfish."

She went on to demonstrate the technique to pull the tail meat out of the creature. She then added that the flavor was in the head of the crawfish, so that any true connoisseur would suck the body of the crawfish. She then placed the multi legged creature's torn torso up to her lips and made a loud sucking sound. The barely restrained appalled expressions of Xander and Buffy made rest of the table titter in amusement. With resolve, Buffy and Xander gingerly reached for their first crawfish

Buffy found that despite the barbarity of tearing the body of the crawfish in half, the meat was quite tasty. She however, refused to suck the alien looking body. Meanwhile, Xander had overcome his timidity at sucking the head and was now noisily sucking the heads along with Ruby. Buffy wrinkled her face in denial despite Xander's coaxing to try the head and picked out a piece of corn from the pile in front of her. Buffy found that the Cajun spice of the crawfish made her face flush and the redness tinted her hands orange. The heat began to build up in her mouth as she smacked her lips and wiped her fingers on countless paper towels. When the heat began to be too much, she discover the cool sip of beer from the chilled glass bottleneck seemed to put out the fire.

Time passed as the adventure of eating the crawfish and the sense of camaraderie between the participants that were shoulder to shoulder at the table grew into one large conglomeration of laughter and the playful consumption of good food. The chatter and amusement as the mess and fun of the crawfish kept everyone occupied that they didn't notice the sound of an engine in the parking area. Amidst the noise, a voice with a British accent carried over the group.

"As always, Cinderella is late for the party." Spike said amiably as he gazed at the active group.

Everyone turned to welcome their friend as they beckoned him over, welcoming him, offering him crawfish and beer. There was a rumble of greetings ended with the last voice was Buffy's rather tremulous and slightly too shrill "Hi..Bill." being the last. A grin appeared on Spike's face as his eyes landed on Buffy sitting at the end of the group on the far side of the table. There was an empty spot next to her and Spike began to take a step to make his way over to it. Buffy blushed as Spike settled his eyes upon her and studied her reddish spice stained hands. Realizing her face might be in the same condition, she quickly wiped at her face with a paper towel that she quickly put back in her lap. Spike smiled at the table as he slowly approached. His eyes met Buffy who smiled with a spice reddened lips as her eyes shone at the sight of him. Time seemed to slow down as he focused on her as he took a step in the direction of where Buffy was sitting on the far side. It was all that Buffy could do to remain in her seat.

Suddenly, long feminine fingers with long shiny French manicured nails wrapped itself around Spike's forearm. As Spike had neared the table, he had come closer to Serena who was not about to allow Spike to pass. She reached over and wrapped her hand like choking vine around his arm, pulling him down to bench beside her. Spike looked down to see Serena's lovely determined face upturned toward him.

"Here, Bill, sit with me." Serena stated, her light tone belying the light of determination in her eyes as she applied a strangely unyielding pressure on Spike's forearm. Her lusciously applied gloss remained on her lips as she turned her dazzling smile up at Spike. It was as if she had only stepped away from the cosmetics counter and had not been consuming the messy crawfish meal.

Spike's eyes displayed his disappointment for only a moment and they flew up to glance at Buffy's stunned face before his manners overtook his impulse to shirk the obsessive woman's hold and make his way over to Buffy. He composed his face to hide his dismay before looking down at Serena with a small resigned grin.

Serena, not letting go of her captive's arm, ordered RJ to move down the bench to make room for Spike. With a slightly disgruntled sigh, but never one to disagree with Serena, RJ leaned forward and asked everyone farther down the bench to scoot over. The people farther down the bench issued sighs of complaints as the each moved farther down the bench to make room for Spike.

Spike somewhat reluctantly slid into the space opened by Serena as she seemed to glory in her entrapment of her prey. Like a hungry snake eyeing a rat, she focused all her attention on Spike, while keeping her back to the quietly suffering RJ. Unmoved by the attention, Spike looked at the pile of crawfish and picked one out between two fingers. Buffy watched him from the opposite corner of the table. Spike's eyes looked from the crawfish that he was twisting in his fingers over to where Buffy was sitting. Serena sensing the connection, leaned forward, blocking the line of sight between the two. She leaned out on her elbow, twisting a lock of hair in her hand as she further posed for Spike's admiration. Buffy could tell by her animated movements that Serena was doing her best to engage Spike to little response. Spike responded politely but did not carry on with the conversation to Serena's disappointment

Ruby huffed a little at Serena's blatant maneuvering to block even the line of sight between her brother and the wonderful new friend who seemed to affect him so strongly. She twisted her mouth in disgust as she regarded the antics of her least favorite person at the table. She knew her brother well enough to know that he would be polite enough to quietly endure Serena's company while pining to connect with Buffy. She glanced down at Buffy, seeing her give Xander a sad smile, obviously trying to conceal her misery at her continuing separation from her brother. With a blast of inspiration, Ruby decided that Serena's ploy must be stopped.

"Hey, Bill. It seems that Buffy is too chicken to suck the head of the crawfish." Ruby announced brightly, interrupting Serena's endless monologue.

Serena's head whipped back to glare at Ruby for breaking in on her aggressively obtained interlude with Spike. At the same instant, an expression of relief appeared on Spike's face.

"Is that so?" Spike replied. Leaning forward to peer around Serena's glowering form, he looked down at Buffy. "She doesn't seem to be the timid type."

"No, she doesn't, does she? I guess she just needs some encouragement."

"Guys, It's not that I'm afraid…it's just seems kinda….icky." Buffy interjected, shifting nervously in her seat. Xander giving her a knowing smile as he watched her reaction.

"Says the girl from California." Ruby commented. "Come on, give it try."

Picking up the head of one of her discarded crawfish, Buffy looked at it with distaste. She spun the torso in her hand, so that the open end was facing her. She made a half-hearted attempt to bring it up to her lips, but lost her nerve and quickly dropped her hand.

"Aw! Come on." Ruby whined.

"Ruby, leave off." Spike scolded his little sister. Then turning his attention to Buffy and picking up a crawfish body between his fingers, he proposed the following. "Tell you what, why don't we do it together, shall we?"

Buffy allowed a gleeful smile to appear on her face as a smiling Spike held up a crawfish in a toast to her. She held up hers in response. Then with their eyes locked, not seeing anyone else at the table, they each brought their crawfish to their lips.


End file.
